A local church, along with volunteers from other congregations, is answering its call to serve the community by opening a Saturday food ministry beginning this weekend.
Members of St. Andrews Episcopal Church will open their Loaves and Fishes food ministry on Saturday to provide a nutritious meal for those who might otherwise go without. The meal will begin with a worship service at 11:30 a.m., with lunch being served from noon to 1:30.
Organizers have been working to set up the ministry for about two months, according to Deborah Cotterman, a parishioner of St. Andrews.
“We’re jumping into something unknown, so it’s an adventure,” Cotterman said. “We’ll see how it goes and we’ll work it out as we go along.”
While the idea originated within the St. Andrews congregation, the ecumenical project will involve members of several other congregations, including Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Mount Olive AME and the Congregational Church, Cotterman said.
“It’s a community effort,” she said. “We’ll be using about four volunteers each week, and it will be a variety of people who will be volunteering from the various churches. If we discover we need more, we will add more.”
Going into the program, the volunteers don’t yet know what to expect, according to the Rev. Kelley Lackey of St. Andrews.
“We don’t know yet,” he said. “We could have six people show up or sixty.”
The lunches will be kept simple yet nutritious, Cotterman said, and will focus on soup, sandwiches and fruit.
The idea for Loaves and Fishes came as the congregation of St. Andrews discussed how better to serve the people of the community. While Abundant Harvest provides meals to people during the week, the Fishes and Loaves ministry was started to fill the Saturday niche.
“The church is a ministry that is supposed to function to serve people beyond our own doors,” Lackey said. “We have thought about how we can best serve the larger community, and when it was realized that there wasn’t any sort of feeding ministry on the weekends, we thought we could at least do something on Saturdays.”
Paraphrasing a verse in the book of Matthew, Lackey said the discussion about beginning the Saturday ministry kept going back to the notion of “what you do for the least of these, you do for me.”
“It’s a matter of the congregation putting its faith into action,” he said.
So far, support from the community has been overwhelming, Cotterman said.
“It’s been amazing, the number of people who have stepped forward and said, ‘We want to help,’” she said. “Our cub scout group wants to get involved, and people from other churches who want to get involved, it’s been wonderful.”
While different churches might have theological differences, to serve those in need is godly, Lackey said, and is the point of the Loaves and Fishes ministry.
“One thing we can all agree on is that we are called to serve,” he said.
Those wishing to make monetary donations to the ministry can make their checks out to the St. Andrews Episcopal Church, with a notation for “Loaves and Fishes” written on the memo line. The church will accept food donations as well, along with anyone who wishes to volunteer to help out.
“We’re more than willing to take time, talent and treasure,” Lackey said.
crossriverjordan (anonymous) says...
I am gratetful that the body of Christ is stepping out to do His work...actually putting the Word into practice...you will be blessed.
November 30, 2011 at 5:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Malique (anonymous) says...
Why do you give Christ credit? Why can't we praise these PEOPLE for doing good things? I don't think god asked or told them to do it.
November 30, 2011 at 8:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )