It was 'A Day to Serve' for one Lincoln church, who spent Sunday giving back to the community.

Volunteers spent the day raking, washing cars, and enjoying live music and free BBQ.

Instead of meeting for its weekly church services, Christ's Place Church spent Sunday giving back to the community.

"Christ served the people, so we're outside serving the community the way we're supposed to. It's not instead of church, it's just a different church service," said Clearthur Mangram, a UNL student.

"We're getting blessed by serving the city, and we don't want anything in return," said Lori Renaud of Lincoln.

More than 650 volunteers worked on 9 projects around the Capital City. One project was washing cars for a dollar, with a little twist in the payment.

"We're paying you a buck to let us wash your car today," said one volunteer. When the customer questioned why, the volunteer said, "Because we just want to bless the people of Lincoln."

Another group worked to spruce up Park Middle School. They pulled weeds and laid mulch in the school's courtyards.

Others cooked up some hot dogs and burgers for a free BBQ in a Lincoln neighborhood.

"I think they should do it more with more than just this. This is cool. They should do this all over town. It gets everybody together," said Bryan Scott of Lincoln.

"God's everywhere, and I think that's really nice they want to spread it around," said Nikki Scott of Lincoln.

Volunteers say at the end of the day, they hope their community service rubs off on others.

"It's to get people to start serving where they wouldn't think so, and not necessarily even through the church. Maybe families on their own will get started and start doing some things," said Renaud.

The church hopes 'A Day to Serve' will encourage other churches and organizations in the area to take part in similar projects.

Several volunteers say they plan to make this an annual event, and do it several times a year.