Saints and Sinners: Serving a plate of fellowship
Life for a church editor consists of more than listening to a sermon on The Beatitudes and singing “Onward, Christian Soldiers” with the congregation. It can also mean chicken and dumplings and homemade cheesecake and, if you live in a German neighborhood, a heaping platter full of sauerkraut and roast pork.
Where some drivers can’t see a fast food sign without pulling off the highway for a burger and fries, I can’t pass up a sign on the church lawn announcing “Church Supper Tonight.”
Of course you want to be sure you are going to a bona fide church supper and not something masquerading as a church supper. You don’t want to be taken in as Fred and Emma were.
They were driving through a strange town, looking for a place to eat when they spotted a sign, “Church Supper Tonight.” They went in, mouths watering.
Taking their seats at the table, they soon realized it was not going to be the old-fashioned church supper they were anticipating. This was a catered affair — down to the fine china, uniformed waitresses, warming pans and a chef in a tall white hat slicing the ham and roast beef with a long, imposing carving knife.
“Might as well have gone to a restaurant,” grumbled Emma as they were leaving. “Eh-uh,” echoed Fred in his down-Maine accent. They were well fed but disappointed.
A church supper to most of us is synonymous with home-cooking — from meatloaf to liver and onions — and warm smells emanating from the kitchen. For dessert there is always hot apple pie — unless you prefer blueberry or pumpkin.
Church suppers are gaining in popularity again as people long for community in an increasingly impersonal world. Church suppers are also good moneymakers at a time when church giving is down.
Whenever friends come in from out of town and want to know a good place to eat, I always try to find out where there is a church supper going on and send them there.
A church basement or parish hall where a church supper is being served can be the friendliest place on God’s Earth — friendlier oftentimes than it is in church!
If you ever find yourself all alone and lonely in a strange city, attend church supper. If you are looking for a place to live, the person next to you will know somebody who knows where there is a good apartment — even though everyone else has told you there isn’t a thing available in town.
If you need a job, you will get plenty of helpful suggestions and maybe even an important introduction. In any case you will feel at home and forget that you were lonely. And you won’t go away hungry.
The service at a church supper is the best in the world. The servers can’t do enough for you. Your coffee cup is never empty. When you go back for a second helping, that is the best compliment you can bestow — and a nice way of saying “Bless the cook.”
The best church suppers I have ever attended were put on by the men of the Methodist church in Ogunquit, Maine.
They did everything. They did the cooking, peeled the potatoes, set the tables, served the meals, cleared the tables and did the dishes. The cooking was superb.
Of course church suppers are a lot of work, but that work is done out of love — love for the church and for one’s fellow human being.
Anyone for a fish fry? That is what is on the menu this Friday at St. Monica’s parish. I’ll save you a seat.
George Plagenz is an ordained minister and veteran newsman based in Columbus, Ohio.