Gone Servin' 2026
One day. Nine partner organizations. Hundreds of students choosing to show up for their neighbors.
Each year, Covenant students trade their classrooms for neighborhoods — showing up with muddy gloves, paint brushes, and a willingness to work. This year's Gone Servin' sent students across Indianapolis to serve alongside local ministries doing real, rooted work. Here's a look at the day.
Hope Church
Featured storyHaughville · Community garden & neighborhood park cleanup
Hope Church has been a presence in its Indianapolis neighborhood for nearly four years — but only began gathering for Sunday worship in fall of 2025. The ministry spent those first years doing the slower, less visible work: building trust, knowing neighbors, and laying the groundwork for a church that would actually belong to the community around it.
This was the second year Hope partnered with Covenant for Gone Servin', a connection that came through Redeemer Church and its Fountain Square plant.
"Our neighbors are used to people treating this neighborhood like it doesn't matter. When a church comes along and says, 'No — this neighborhood matters to Jesus,' I think that brings real joy."
— Ben Hein, Pastor, Hope ChurchWhat students did
Students split into two teams. The first headed to a nearby park set to host its opening day celebration the very next Saturday — they cleared trash from along the river and surrounding streets, making it ready for the community to enjoy. Hundreds of people showed up to that event without ever knowing a group of high schoolers had spent the day preparing it for them.
The second team worked on Hope's newly acquired ministry property — leveling piles of dirt and rubble, clearing construction debris, and digging garden beds that will serve as a community garden for neighbors of the church. What made the day stand out: neighbors and Hope Church members came out to work right alongside the students — a sign that the community had begun to feel real ownership over what was being built there.
A moment worth keeping
One Hope Church member, Tiffany, worked in the garden alongside a group of Covenant girls. By the end of the afternoon, she had an idea: she wanted to come back and paint the space. The girls were immediately in. They swapped contact information with plans to return this summer — a friendship built in three hours that both sides wanted to keep going.
Eight more teams. Nine partner organizations.
Students spread across Indianapolis doing hands-on work with each partner.
Wheeler Mission
Landscaping at the Center for Women & Children; sorting donations at the donation center
Ben Davis Christian Church / Love Where You Are
Neighborhood cleanup near BDCC; trash pickup along the B&O Trail heading east
Victory in the City
Basement renovation — painting, organizing, kitchen cleanup, fitness space setup, kids wing painting, and raised bed installation
Chapel Rock Food Pantry
Sorting and organizing the food pantry; B&O Trail cleanup heading west if time allowed
Camptown / Str8Up Ministries
Outdoor cleanup and landscaping at Str8Up's ministry site on the north side
Shepherd Community Center
Sorting clothes, loading panels, cleaning and reorganizing the Arlington warehouse
Purposeful Design
Tour of the ministry and surrounding neighborhood
Heart Change
Weed pulling and local trash pickup; neighborhood walk to hear stories from the community
Gone Servin' isn't a field trip. It's students choosing to give a day to something bigger than themselves — and organizations across Indianapolis choosing to trust them with real work. We're grateful to every partner who opened their doors, and to every student who showed up ready to get their hands dirty.