Liquid Church's idea — A week of love to help NJ

In a world of cynicism, where people are largely divided and politicized, one church in Parsippany wants to just let the love flow.

Tim Lucas is the lead pastor of Liquid Church, a name he came up with because Jesus called himself the "living water" and Lucas wanted to create a church that was both refreshing and exciting.

Liquid Church is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Instead of receiving gifts, Lucas wants to give back to the community during "Love Week" from Oct. 29 through Nov. 5th.

"For our birthday, we want to give away 10,000 hours of loving service to our neighbors, our communities, really help our neighbors in need — the homeless, the elderly, veterans, kids with special needs," Lucas said. He said the church has about 4000 volunteers and people are excited.

He said the goal of "Love Week" is love, no strings attached.

This is the first "Love Week" the non-denominational Christian Church is launching, but Lucas said in the past, the church has mobilized outreaches. One was putting on a prom with all the trimmings for kids with special needs. It also renovated a home for victims of domestic violence.

Liquid Church will serve everyone and anyone in need. "We don't care where people are coming from, if they have no religious background, Jewish, Catholic, Jedi Knight," says Lucas.

He says nowadays we live in world full of cynicism and division. He hopes people will see the heart behind "Love Week" and fully embrace the kindness and compassion.

Liquid Church has six different locations in counties around North and Central Jersey. So each county has different outreaches. For example, in Essex County, there is "Backpacks for Life." It was started by a former marine from Verona who said there are a lot of homeless vets living on the streets.

Lucas says the backpacks are full of practical items such as bandages, pain relief cream, socks, hand warmers and more.

In Edison at the YWCA, Liquid Church volunteers are renovating a safe house for battered women and children. Lucas said they need upgrades that their budget won't allow.

There's Hoops-4-Kicks in Nutley. It's a three-on-three basketball tournament for high school students to collect shoes for people in need across the globe, including hurricane victims.

In Cranbury, there's "The Hugs for Brady 5K Run," dedicated to helping kids battling childhood cancer. Volunteers will help with fun activities such as face-painting, food trucks and vendor tents.

Parsippany PAL provides more than 4,000 local children with various activities and sports programs. Volunteers are needed to help prepare classrooms and commons areas for painting, among other projects throughout the day.

In Mountainside, New York City Relief provides shelter, medical care, addiction recovery and job training as lifelines to those in need. Volunteers are invited to help assemble hygiene kits.

Lucas said his favorite "Love Week" program is in Somerset County. Liquid Church is teaming up with Agape House in Somerville. The Agape House provides temporary housing to the homeless. Volunteers will help renovate, clean and paint the house.

You can still volunteer for "Love Week." Lucas said there are 400 outreaches that need volunteers to help anywhere from packing meals to the homeless to throwing Halloween parties for disadvantaged children. See liquidchurch.com for more information.

Liquid Church’s idea — A week of love to help NJ