Submitted by Robin Murray, Castlegar United Church
The Bible tells of over 100 instances where Jesus eats a meal. Every few pages, he is sitting down with friends for dinner, drinking wine at a wedding, eating with despised community members such as tax collectors, or feeding thousands of people on a hillside. The guy loved to gather people around a simple meal.
It’s no surprise then, that people in churches like to eat together. As a teenager, I remember many Sunday luncheons at United Churches that consisted of four different kinds of tuna casserole, six different varieties of devilled eggs and about ten different kinds of jello salad. These days, you are much more likely to find four different kinds of soup, six different varieties of hummus and heaps of fresh fruits and vegetables. The point is, there’s good food, and lots of it.
The pandemic was really hard on us church folk, that way, cancelling our potlucks, community dinners, and in-person soup kitchens. But we got creative, like everyone else did, with things like ordering pizza to be delivered to multiple families and then having a Zoom pizza party, and cooking meals in our church kitchens so we could deliver meals to those in need.
Slowly, we are returning to shared meals and communal cooking. Castlegar United Church is excited to be planning for a return of our annual pie sale the first week of October this year, in which we expect to make at least 500 apple pies with the help of friends in the community. While it is a fundraiser, the truth is, we do it more for the fun of getting together and rolling out all those pie crusts and getting sticky with juice as we peel the apples.
There is a sacredness to sharing food together. We come together with gratitude for the meal and with the joy in the sharing of common experience, be it ever so simple. There aren’t many places in today’s society where we gather to eat together as community, where people are invited to simply bring what they can and take what they need. I am grateful that churches can once again be host to such gatherings safely.
Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matt. 18:19–20) So, lets dig into that hummus with our friends. It’s what Jesus liked to do!
Robin Murray is the pastor of Castlegar United Church.
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FAITH: Let's eat! – Castlegar News - Castlegar News
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