ROCKVILLE, Va. — It began with a cluttered office and the need to dispose of numerous boxes of financial records, explains Mark Hughes, pastor of Berea Baptist Church in Rockville, Va.
Realizing that properly destroying sensitive information would require more than a small trash-can shredder, Hughes searched online for a local “shredding event” — group-organized document disposal opportunities which are increasingly common around the country. Unable to find one, the idea of providing this service to connect with the church’s community was born, he said.
Using a Dover Baptist Association Connections Project grant awarded to churches to sponsor a project or ministry to connect with the unchurched, Berea Baptist scheduled a shredding event last fall and mailed flyers to over 9,000 households and businesses in its immediate area, inviting them to bring documents for free shedding. Participants could register for several items, including gift cards and a home shredder.
A participant registers at Berea Baptist Church's shredding event.
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“I was thinking about having a completely practical event by providing the shredding truck for the area,” said Hughes. “As I thought about the load of outdated stuff I and others would get to safely dispose, my mind drifted to the spiritual aspect and the extra baggage we carry around because of pain, guilt, sin and shame. As Christians we needlessly drag this stuff around with us, forgetting that Jesus died to forgive us, redeem us and renew us for abundant life.
“So I thought, what if we gave people the opportunity to shred personal documents as a public service but then offered them the opportunity to shed and shred spiritual burdens also?” he said.
Each of the more than 100 people who brought their documents to the truck and registered was given a personal note thanking them for shredding with Berea Baptist Church. It also read: “Before you go, know this, Jesus loves you, died to forgive you and was raised to give you new life. You can use the reverse side of this card to shred some burdens today. It could be a bad memory, a mistake or a sinful struggle. Write down something you need to shred and drop it in our Shred-a-Sin Box and we will shred the contents of the box at the end of the event. You can leave knowing you are forgiven and free today. We’d love to tell you how — just ask.”
“Only a few utilized it that day,” said Hughes, “but all left with one. And at the end of the day, as promised, we shredded the sins of those who took advantage of our Shred-a-Sin box.
“All who responded to the email survey following the event were complimentary of our helpful volunteers, the sense of welcome we created and that Berea Baptist Church was ‘giving’ this gift to the community free of charge,” he said.
Most respondents requested the church repeat the event in the future. And Hughes adds that he “hopes that in the weeks that have followed, others who participated have offered their lives to Jesus and did shred the sins that he has already forgiven.”
Barbara Francis (bfrancis@religiousherald.org) is on the staff of the Religious Herald.