Still Church Together- Still Serving God's World


Shared by Rev. Steven Peeler, Interim Pastor at Messiah Lutheran Church in Grand Island
Food Pantries are one of the many ways congregations in the Nebraska Synod work to serve their communities and to show love to their neighbors. Messiah Lutheran in Grand Island is one of those congregations helping their neighbors in need. Their Saturday Supper ministry began in 2005 and continues during this time of physical distancing, just in a new way.  



Before the pandemic, Messiah was serving approximately 200 meals every Saturday evening in the church fellowship hall. Meals were also being delivered to home-bound parishioners by volunteers. At the height of the pandemic, Messiah continued to provide this ministry and served about 600 meals on those Saturdays. Now, as businesses begin to reopen and members of the community begin to return to work, the amount of meals served each weekend has decreased to around 400. And for the last several weeks the congregation has continued to serve close to 400 meals consistently.  

Since this ministry began, meals were served cafeteria-style and patrons were invited to dine in the fellowship hall. But with the current safety guidelines, the distribution has completely changed. Hot meals are now prepared in the church kitchen and placed in take-out containers. Recipients drive by the south entrance of the church facility where volunteers place the take-out meals in their cars. Patrons do not exit their vehicles at all, much like a fast food drive thru. To go with their hot meal, they receive pre-packed kits of bread and desserts.  

The patrons then drive around to the north entrance of Messiah's parking lot, where another team of volunteers place refrigerated foods in their vehicles. The congregation has a refrigerated food storage area in the garage that can conveniently store items needing to be kept cool until they can be distributed.   


To keep serving the community, Messiah has been able to partner locally with businesses such as Panera, US Foods, Big Apple Bagels, HyVee, Supersaver, and CHI St Francis hospital. In addition to these partnerships, they buy portions of the hot meals from local restaurants as another way of supporting their neighbors.

Volunteers are able to put together complete meals from donations and purchased items, with financial grants covering the cost of the purchases. These grants have also assisted with the purchases of food prep/storage items and other much needed supplies.  

The Saturday Suppers at Messiah Lutheran are just another example of how the congregations of the Nebraska Synod continue to serve God's world and to thrive as church together.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stories from Across the Synod

Image
 Three Rural Churches Doing Worship in a New Way   In response to the pandemic, the three congregations of Sonrise Parish (St. John’s, Eustis; American, Cozad; and St. John’s, Cozad) moved to video-only worship beginning on March 18, 2020.  Three months later, as warmer weather had arrived, the churches decided to do outdoor Word and Sacrament at each site on a weekly rotating basis, beginning at Eustis on June 14.  A weekly virtual brief worship recording was also continued!  The city street, parking lots, and grassy areas became the places to gather in lawn chairs or in cars in a physically-distanced manner.  A low-power FM transmitter broadcasted to those who wanted to stay in their vehicles.   A music group with percussion, guitar, horns, vocalists (and sometimes keyboard) led the services.  For sixteen weeks through the end of September the outdoor services continued, with attendance ranging from 50-60 to as high as over 100.  Two c...
Read more

150 Years of Mission & Ministry

Image
 By Bishop Brian Maas We have now formally kicked off the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Nebraska Synod. We’ll spend the next year reflecting on our shared history and inviting each congregation to reflect on its own history as well. We do this not to rediscover some glorious past to which we might return (we won’t—we can’t); rather, we study our histories because they remind us of our stories. Our story reaches back not only 150 years, but millennia, to the very origins of God’s people. The Bible is our story, every bit as much as our local histories. We reflect on that story so that we might continue to live that story; to see what chapters are yet to be written. This is the why behind the reflection and the history-telling; to remind ourselves of all of those times when God was present in spite of what seemed to be happening in the world—to see God at work in the joys and celebrations we’ve known, and to recognize God’s presence with us in the sorrow...
Read more

Arise! Wake up! Look around!

Image
By Deacon Connie R. Stover Director, Seeking the Spirit Within Today as I write this blog article, I cannot see the sun, and it is bitterly cold outside.   It looks like the sun has disappeared and abandoned me, as the sky is a dulling, gray slate of sameness.   I want to wrap myself in a warm, soft blanket and hibernate.   But alas, today is the deadline for this article to be written.   People are reaching out to me with their questions through phone calls, text messages and emails.   As I sit at my computer, I realize that I am hungry.   It is as if God is saying to me, “Arise!   Wake up!   Look around!” For me, God’s call to arise, wake up, and look around, comes each morning as I sit myself down in my sacred space to spend time with God.   This is a daily intention to first look to God for the gifts of light and warmth in all days – the gray days of routine sameness and the bright days of exciting newness.   If I ...
Read more