Madeline Buckley

madeline.buckley@indystar.com

Madi, a smiling 8-year-old student, swung her bare feet back and forth above the basin of water today, and giggled at her friend who sat nearby.

"Will this tickle?" she asked Katie Gilson, a staff assistant for Gov. Mike Pence.

"It might tickle a little," Gilson told the girl as she laughed and splashed her feet into the water.

Gilson washed Madi's feet with Dora the Explorer body wash that smelled like cherries and rubbed them dry with a blue cloth. Gilson then helped Madi put on a new pair of socks and a sparkly new pair of gym shoes.

State employees, including Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann, washed the feet of about 150 children and gave them new pairs of shoes and socks at Shepherd Community Center on the east side.

Pence joined the group in the late morning.

Shepherd Community Center joined with the state and Samaritan's Feet, a Charlotte, N.C.-based nonprofit that offers shoes and socks to children in need, for a day of service before Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday.

Students in preschool through fifth grade at Horizon Christian School at Shepherd Academy received a new pair of gym shoes. Some were in bright hues, some with light-up soles, some bedazzled with jewels and some were even decorated with the "Frozen" characters, Anna and Elsa.

But first, the students had their feet washed. It's a Christian ritual, based on the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples.

"It shows humility to wash feet," said Sonna Dumas, director of the school associated with Shepherd, a faith-based ministry that focuses on poverty.

Dumas said the teachers told students about the biblical origins of the tradition in preparation for the event, telling the children that washing of feet is meant to show love and service.

The ritual also promotes good hygiene and allows the volunteers one-on-one time with the children, said Whitney Saucedo, a staff member of Samaritan's Feet.

"Surprisingly, they've loved it. They haven't hesitated at all," Gilson said of the feet-washing. "It's a great feeling to give back."

Politicians typically participate in faith-based service opportunities and engage with the faith community, though the overtly religious imagery of the washing of the feet is more unusual.

"We can find this at every level. We see mayors and council members meet with ministers and look for opportunities to serve," said Andy Downs, a political science professor at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. "What is different here is the fact that there is a tremendously obvious visual that this is a religiously inspired service event."

However, Pence is a governor who has consistently said his Christian faith is a crucial component of his life.

"For a lot of people this is absolutely understandable given how the governor wears his religious beliefs right out there in the open," said Downs.

Pence's support of Hoosiers' right to practice their faith was in the news this week, when he said in his State of the State address Tuesday that he would not support a bill to expand rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Hoosiers that "diminishes the religious freedom" of people in Indiana.

Dressed in jeans Friday, Pence did not join his staff in the washing of the feet, instead opting to read a children's book to the students.

Call IndyStar reporter Madeline Buckley at (317) 444-6083. Follow her on Twitter: @Mabuckley88.