Sharing Meals with Gladness

February 12, 2025
A Note from Beth Latella

Dear Friends,

Acts 2 says, “⁴² The believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers…. ⁴⁴ All the believers were united and shared everything…. ⁴⁶ Every day, they met together in the temple and ate in their homes. They shared food with gladness and simplicity.” (Common English Bible)

This description of the early Jerusalem church warms my heart. It shows community and shared meals as the center of the church, right along with preaching and prayer.

I grew up in a small village church in the Mohican country, and my fondest memories are of church suppers, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, and the wonderful breakfast after the Easter Sunrise service. Wherever I have worshipped and served in my life since, the churches that had true community and fellowship also had really good food!

Sharing Meals with Gladness

In this letter I truly want to encourage you to participate in two important examples of sharing meals in our HUMC community. One is the annual Chili & Dessert Cookoff Fundraiser. The other is our ongoing Wednesday Community Suppers.

Wednesday Community Supper

It’s hard for me to find words for the joy that I receive from getting together every Wednesday with my friends on the cooking and serving teams, and my friends who come to sit down to eat with us.

We share joys, sorrows, frustrations, and jokes, in about equal measure.

Getting to know someone I wouldn’t have otherwise even met, just by sitting down together to eat and chat, is such a blessing.

Eating together is ministry

In many ways I think this eating together is as important a ministry as the preparing of the meal. And as the scripture from Acts shows, it’s the very definition of living in Christian community!

There are always opportunities for more team members to help, especially some folks with the spiritual gift of dishwashing. I really encourage you to help grow our community, and to enhance your own spiritual growth, by coming to join us for Wednesday supper!

Come between 5:30 and 6:30pm and eat with us, and don’t feel you have to serve or clean up to be part of our fellowship. Just come, sit down, share a joke!

Share how your week has been and lend an ear to a neighbor with a joy or concern. Meet new people, deepen acquaintances, touch base with old friends. Remember we are gathered in Christ’s name and he is there with us.

Chili & Dessert Cookoff Fundraiser

The Chili & Dessert Cookoff Fundraiser is an annual celebration by the whole church of this joy of getting together for really good chili and desserts, and having fun with some friendly competition (I refer you to Pastor April for expert commentary!).

The event also raises money for Wednesday Suppers. There is no ticket price, but we ask you to consider a generous donation to the expenses we have for feeding folks who can’t afford to pay.

Come to the cookoff on Saturday, February 22. Bring your tastiest chili and/or your most delicious dessert (you can sign up HERE), or just come eat and enjoy the community! Come taste little bites of your friends’ creations and vote for your favorite. Come appreciate the wisdom and humor of our celebrity judges. There will be fabulous prizes, great conversation, and plenty to eat! (In addition to the competition chilies, this year the Cook-off team is providing extra portions of family-friendly, tasty, mild chili so that no one goes hungry. )

My words can’t capture the fun and the joy of this evening together. Please come! Share our food with gladness and simplicity!

Beth

Beth Latella
Wednesday Supper Coordinator and Kitchen Diva