Corryton Church readies for another special Christmas Party
By Ken Leinart
Christmas is the centerpiece of Pastor Rocky Ramsey and Corryton Church members’ efforts as they strive to help others celebrate each holiday season.
But it’s so much more than one day on the calendar.
It’s compassion, loving your neighbor, looking out for one another, fellowship, all of that and more. It’s helping those in need, those devastated by a natural disaster. It just so happens to take place near Christmastime.
“It’s our way,” Dr. Ramsey said, “to let those suffering know they are cared for.”
Thirty families will gather at South Central Elementary School in Chuckey, Tennessee, on Dec. 7. for what they think will be a meal and a few gifts.
The Christmas Party is always held on the first Saturday of December and it brings a good feeling leading up to Dec. 25.
The morning of the party begins with singing Christmas carols.
Dr. Ramsey will then explain the church is there to share the love of Jesus with them. Even though they’ve been through tragic loss, God knows who they are, where they are, and has not forgotten them.
After that, Pastor of Etc. Grant Rodgers will describe to them that they are about to go on a two-hour, free shopping spree.
The children will play games in the gym and shop for gifts for their parents. The parents will move from “store” to “store” to shop for gifts for their children.
The party is like a game show. Multiple rooms are set up containing similar items (shoes, coats, clothes, groceries, kitchen items, bed & bath, etc.). A Corryton Church member will lead the parents from room to room. At the sound of a bell, they go to their next room where they have five minutes to select a predetermined number of items.
The bell rings again, and they’re off to their next room. Church members will tag the selected gifts and run them out to staging sites designated for each family.
Members will bring pickup trucks to help the families get their gifts to where they are staying.
This event has been running annually since 2002 and church members have it down to an art.
“It’s pretty amazing how quickly this sets up,” Dr. Ramsey said. “We have 80 or so people going up (to Chuckey). It takes about an hour and a half.”
After the “shopping spree,” Dr. Ramsey said it takes about 30 minutes to break it down and clean up.
“We take photos before we start of each room so it is set up exactly like it was before,” Dr. Ramsey said.
He said it’s a rare occasion when a principal of a school doesn’t want their classrooms turned into a shopping zone, but Ramsey said, “We’ve never had the first complaint.”
The Mossy Grove community in Wartburg was the first recipient of this Christmas miracle after tornadoes swept through that area in 2002.
Corryton Church decided to give Christmas to some families who were uninsured and had lost everything. Someone in the community found the families most in need of help.
The church gave away a gymnasium full of furniture, clothes, appliances and more. Every family also received a television, microwave, vacuum, tool set and cleaning supplies. One family received property and a new double-wide mobile home that was fully furnished, decorated, and stocked (at no cost to them).
The church had such a great time showing the love of Jesus to those people, that they decided to make an annual habit of it. Over the past 22 years, the church has given away nearly $1 million dollars of gifts and goods to families in East Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky.
Two years ago, it helped a church, a pastor, and families who were victims of the Hazard, Ky., flood.
This year the 30 families were selected by educators in Chuckey. Families hit the hardest by Helene. It is up to the educators to make sure the families attend. Dr. Ramsey said sometimes a family may not want to attend just to get, what they think, is a meal and few gifts.
Sometimes a family finds it impossible to attend. In that case, a “designated” shopper handles the duty.
This day of gifts, of blessings, is not just “one day” though. While donations already line the hallways of Corryton Church, (the church has been collecting items since the first of November) members will still hit the shopping trails Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, to buy items using monetary donations the church has received. “Someone in Ohio heard about what we’re doing and sent us about 16 pallets of clothing … new clothing,” Dr. Ramsey told The Focus.
On Friday night, Dec. 6., Corryton Church will hold a dinner of thanks for the numerous Amish families who traveled to the Chuckey area to feed residents after the devastation of Helene.
“Now, we’re feeding them,” Dr. Ramsey said. “It’s a way to show how much they are appreciated, to thank them.”
The giving, most times, extends after the annual party.
“We’ve been to places where people have absolutely nothing,” Dr. Ramsey said. “People living in mobile homes along a river bank with no windows. People living in houses with no doors.
“Someone usually goes back out later and installs windows or hangs a door for a family. Our people are really good about doing things like that.
“In a way, this is our Christmas as well.”
