{"id":3781,"date":"2014-06-26T16:29:42","date_gmt":"2014-06-26T16:29:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/crcc\/laundry-love\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T23:52:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T23:52:30","slug":"laundry-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/crcc\/laundry-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Laundry Love"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Derrick Engoy’s vision of the Kingdom of God leads him to service projects such as Laundry Love, making America exceptional in the here-and-now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Laundry Love<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n
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\n\n \n Commentary\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n By<\/span>Richard Flory<\/a><\/strong>\n \n June 26, 2014<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Several years ago\u20142002 to be exact\u2014I met an incredibly interesting young pastor named Greg Russinger. At the time, Greg was leading the Bridge Communities, an innovative church in Ventura, California. What was so striking about the Bridge Communities was that the intention to be of service to the city of Ventura was so prominent in the organization that one member commented to me that he had never been a part of a church that was focused more on taking the church to the people, rather than bringing people to the church. This encounter and many more were documented in our 2008 book, Finding Faith: The Spiritual Quest of the Post-Boomer Generation<\/em><\/a>, in which we outlined several different ways that younger Christians were expressing and experiencing their faith.<\/p>\n

The Bridge Communities developed many different programs that offered opportunities to \u201ctake the church to the people,\u201d but one in particular stands out, mainly because it has now expanded to include many different faith communities across the United States. Laundry Love<\/a> is a simple way to take the local congregation into the community. The fundamental premises of Laundry Love are that there are many people who find it difficult to make financial ends meet, that congregations should be actively involved in their communities and that an effective way of helping individuals in the community is to provide a place where people in difficult circumstances can get their laundry done for free. Thus volunteers from different congregations and community groups meet one night each month, pooling money, laundry soap and labor to help others in this most taken-for-granted task.<\/p>\n

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Watch a video about Laundry Love:<\/strong><\/p>\n