Hope's Kitchen: Building Relationship, Feeding People
Years ago, when I was a part of Gilead Lutheran Church in Brunswick, John Shanahan, Lisa Kreiger, and I started a food kitchen as a sister ministry to Gilead’s food pantry. We had great success and over the years had built up the dinners from serving 35 people to now serving 150 people. Though I’m now a part of Hope Lutheran Church in N. Greenbush, I still support Gilead’s community dinner and serve in the kitchen with John.
Three years ago I helped to found Hope Lutheran Church in N. Greebush (born from the consolidation of Trinity, West Sand Lake and St. Timothy, N. Greenbush). Not long after we began worshiping together I started talking to other people about what was happening at Gilead and wondered if we could do the same at Hope, certainly there were hungry people in our neighborhood too.
Jim Macris overheard me talking about feeding our hungry neighbors one day and shared his own desire to start a community food center. Soon plans started to form. At first we thought about starting this adventure in our church building but the kitchen was too small and not at all equipped to prepare and cook food for the number of people we hoped would come to dine with us. So we started looking at other buildings that were suitable and we would be able to grow with. Jim wondered if the city of Rensselaer was the right place, to give back to that community that had served him so well when he was attending St. Paul there which closed many years ago.
We looked at a couple of places and then we heard about First Presbyterian Church on Broadway. We made an appointment to see the church and what it had to offer. The kitchen was perfect. There was a commercial 12 burner gas stove with three ovens, a 10’ X 14’ prep counter, all the dishes, silverware, utensils, pots and pans we could ever use. We talked with Pastor David Moore about renting the space twice a month, one day to do prep work and one day to feed the masses. We hoped. Pastor Dave thought it was a great idea and thought it could potentially help the congregation reinvest in their own neighborhood.
What started out as simply renting space has blossomed as a true partnership. Pastor Dave and some of the people of First Presbyterian work right along side the people of Hope setting up the dining hall, preparing and cooking the diners. Pastor David also serves as our main publicist, putting flyers out into the neighborhood and in his weekly church bulletins. When we began six months ago (March 14, 2019) shared a meal with approximately 40 people. With the grace of God we are now serving up to 80-85 dinners each month.
I believe this has been a wonderful, and God inspired partnership. While First Presbyterian church will be closing in April 2020 it has provided a way for this congregation to be faithful and innovative in their last year of ministry. We are very aware that we may no longer to serve dinner in this space if the next owner of the building will not let us stay to serve the community of Rensselaer but we trust that by God’s grace, God will make a way for us to serve the community longer.
Written by Marion Daus, member of Hope Lutheran Church, N. Greenbush