The Daily Mountain Eagle --- Published September 22, 2007
Jasper churches are working together to provide a hot meal to underprivileged families five days a week. Maranatha Baptist Church, through a partnership with First Baptist Church, hosts a weekly soup kitchen each Monday beginning at 11 a.m. First United Methodist Church operates a kitchen each Tuesday and Thursday. Fellowship begins at 10 a.m. and meals are served at 11 a.m. Christ Fellowship International hosts a kitchen each Wednesday and Friday at 11 a.m.
The first local soup kitchen began seven years ago as a ministry of Evangel Tabernacle, now named Christ Fellowship International.“The Lord gave me a vision for this in 1991. We prayed for several years for the development of it until we had enough people to do it,” Senior Pastor Lindon Frost said.More than 40 people came to the church’s first kitchen, which opened on Sept. 8, 2000.
Today the kitchen is one part of Christ Fellowship International’s Matthew Ministry Outreach. “It’s an outreach of singing and scripture reading. We serve meals every Wednesday and Friday, and we also distribute groceries and clothing from our clothing room,” Frost said.The outreach gets its name from Jesus’ words in Matthew 25, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
The church feeds between 15 and 40 people at each meeting. On Thanksgiving and other holidays, the crowd can swell to more than 100. However, Frost said the number of people who attend is not as significant as meeting each individual’s needs.“Our motto is if there is one, they will be treated as though they were a hundred,” he said.
Four years ago, First United Methodist Church opened its own kitchen, known as Hope Kitchen.Cheryl Proctor, kitchen hostess, said many people come to Hope Kitchen as much for the fellowship as for the food.“It’s just a special place for people to come together,” she said.
Proctor said when people arrive at the church, they can listen to soft music playing in the background or visit with church volunteers and others who have gathered for the meal.A short devotion is held before meals are served. If a regular visitor is having a birthday, those in attendance may share some birthday cake. Many people linger after the meal is over to continue talking with friends.Proctor said church volunteers are also available to counsel people about their spiritual needs and pray with them. As for the food, Proctor said the term “soup kitchen” does not adequately reflect the kind of meals today’s churches serve in their food ministries.“We have hot meals like spaghetti, garlic bread and salad. We serve fish. One week we had pork loin and turnip greens. We always have meat and all kinds of desserts,” she said.
Pastor Jerry Boyd of Maranatha Baptist Church said cooperation allowed his church to open its own soup kitchen several years ago. Boyd said the ministry, called Bread of Life Kitchen, can serve as many as 50 people at the church. The church also delivers approximately 30-40 meals to people who are unable to make it to the kitchen.
Frost said he is pleased that so many local churches are now working together to feed people in Walker County. He said Jesus Christ provided the greatest example for this kind of work two thousand years ago.“Jesus didn’t just help people spiritually. He helped them physically. He fed them,” Frost said.
Jasper churches are working together to provide a hot meal to underprivileged families five days a week. Maranatha Baptist Church, through a partnership with First Baptist Church, hosts a weekly soup kitchen each Monday beginning at 11 a.m. First United Methodist Church operates a kitchen each Tuesday and Thursday. Fellowship begins at 10 a.m. and meals are served at 11 a.m. Christ Fellowship International hosts a kitchen each Wednesday and Friday at 11 a.m.
The first local soup kitchen began seven years ago as a ministry of Evangel Tabernacle, now named Christ Fellowship International.“The Lord gave me a vision for this in 1991. We prayed for several years for the development of it until we had enough people to do it,” Senior Pastor Lindon Frost said.More than 40 people came to the church’s first kitchen, which opened on Sept. 8, 2000.
Today the kitchen is one part of Christ Fellowship International’s Matthew Ministry Outreach. “It’s an outreach of singing and scripture reading. We serve meals every Wednesday and Friday, and we also distribute groceries and clothing from our clothing room,” Frost said.The outreach gets its name from Jesus’ words in Matthew 25, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
The church feeds between 15 and 40 people at each meeting. On Thanksgiving and other holidays, the crowd can swell to more than 100. However, Frost said the number of people who attend is not as significant as meeting each individual’s needs.“Our motto is if there is one, they will be treated as though they were a hundred,” he said.
Four years ago, First United Methodist Church opened its own kitchen, known as Hope Kitchen.Cheryl Proctor, kitchen hostess, said many people come to Hope Kitchen as much for the fellowship as for the food.“It’s just a special place for people to come together,” she said.
Proctor said when people arrive at the church, they can listen to soft music playing in the background or visit with church volunteers and others who have gathered for the meal.A short devotion is held before meals are served. If a regular visitor is having a birthday, those in attendance may share some birthday cake. Many people linger after the meal is over to continue talking with friends.Proctor said church volunteers are also available to counsel people about their spiritual needs and pray with them. As for the food, Proctor said the term “soup kitchen” does not adequately reflect the kind of meals today’s churches serve in their food ministries.“We have hot meals like spaghetti, garlic bread and salad. We serve fish. One week we had pork loin and turnip greens. We always have meat and all kinds of desserts,” she said.
Pastor Jerry Boyd of Maranatha Baptist Church said cooperation allowed his church to open its own soup kitchen several years ago. Boyd said the ministry, called Bread of Life Kitchen, can serve as many as 50 people at the church. The church also delivers approximately 30-40 meals to people who are unable to make it to the kitchen.
Frost said he is pleased that so many local churches are now working together to feed people in Walker County. He said Jesus Christ provided the greatest example for this kind of work two thousand years ago.“Jesus didn’t just help people spiritually. He helped them physically. He fed them,” Frost said.
