JANUARY/FEBRUARY -2012

A Service Calling
Susan Luttrell is a force for change in the Mansfield community

By Kerry Pipes

Susan Luttrell is a woman of faith.
She possesses a faith that dictates how she lives her life. Her faith dictates the way she serves others throughout the community. Her faith helps lead to changed lives within her community.

“Over time I have developed a heart to serve my church and our community,” says the 48-year-old, who has been involved in numerous community and church outreach roles during the past couple of decades. This past October she took on a brand new role as director of serving and outreach for First United Methodist Church of Mansfield. There’s none more qualified for the position. But that’s not all, Luttrell is also currently the board president of the Common Ground Network, a local non-profit that provides assistance to families in need.
Luttrell is living out her faith.

VOLUNTEERING

Luttrell has been a part of the Mansfield community since moving here from Rendon in 1974 when she was 11 years old. She grew up and married Robert and together they raised their daughter, Julie, who is now grown and living in Dallas. She says she is proud of her daughter and credits much of her daughter’s success to growing up here in Mansfield and their involvement in their church.

Luttrell says she was always passionate about raising her daughter and that naturally led to her becoming a volunteer with the school district. “I’ve always gotten something positive and life-changing out of every volunteer job I’ve had,” she says. “They’ve all impacted me.”

Volunteering at school led to volunteering with the Girl Scouts and then First United Methodist Church of Mansfield. Of course that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Through the years she has been involved with Meals on Wheels, where First United Methodist Church of Mansfield hosts the Mansfield area distribution each week, Hands of Christ, a program that helps the elderly and disabled by doing minor home repair, and Habitat for Humanity, where Luttrell has been a part of every house the group has constructed in Mansfield and many more built in Fort Worth.

In her newest position as director of serving and outreach at First United Methodist Church of Mansfield, Luttrell says her role is to help empower others to live their faith out through serving not only in the life of the church itself but also within the world around them.

“I have a passion to see people find ways to make a difference and build a stronger community wherever they live, here in Mansfield or in Rwanda, Africa,” she says.

COMMON GROUND

For the past three years Luttrell has served as president of Common Ground Network, a group that was started in Mansfield about 16 years ago as a way for churches to come together to serve the community during the Christmas season. Churches like First United Methodist Church of Mansfield, St. Jude Catholic, Mansfield Church of Christ and Mansfield Fellowship Church helped start the organization. The group has since partnered with Mansfield ISD and the City of Mansfield, and says Luttrell, more churches and non-profits have been joining.

“We have had to change locations twice over the past five years because more and more churches and groups are joining us,” says Luttrell. “Today the objective of Common Ground is to bring together those that can help with those that need our help. We work to serve the families in the Mansfield ISD.”
She says the group coordinates a community-wide Christmas Assistance program that not only has a gift element but ensures new shoes and clothes for the children in the program. There’s a School Supply Program each year and the group also supports food pantries that serve the families of Mansfield ISD. Common Ground Network encourages and coordinates food drives through the schools, churches and businesses.

“One of our programs that seems to get a lot of attention is Feed Kids For Summer,” says Luttrell. She says they realized several years ago that some children on the free and reduced breakfast and lunch program during the school year were in need during the summer months. This program supplies a supplement food bag each week of the summer for each child in a family. In five years the program has grown from providing 2,000 bags to more than 7,000 this past summer.
Each of the Common Ground Network initiatives encourages volunteers from all over to help work and run the programs. There’s no central office and the organization is only able to support programs through community contributions.

“I would venture to say that with my personality and my life’s philosophy it makes a perfect match to volunteer with Common Ground Network,” says Luttrell. She is excited about the opportunity to bring different churches together for what they all have in common and work together in order to serve the community as one.

“I find that so inspiring,” she says.

Common Ground Network has gained the trust of the school district, the city, civic groups, and other non-profits in a way that helps it build a stronger community for all.

“We are trying to give Common Ground the best opportunity to continue to grow along with Mansfield and work to help us support one another and serve the marginalized so that their families are able to enjoy all that the community of Mansfield has to offer.”

Spoken like a true servant.