August 10, 2022
A Note from Beth Latella
Dear Friends,
Feed My Lambs — join the Wednesday Supper Team!
What do cooking and quilting have in common? They are two of my favorite activities, but more than that, for me, they are two methods of offering warmth and comfort. They are also two important ministries of Hilliard United Methodist Church.
Both were changed, but not stopped, by the pandemic. Quilters quilted at home, which suited my view of sewing as individual and contemplative.
But cooking — and eating — are best when shared.
From January 2015 through February 2020, HUMC served Wednesday Community Suppers throughout the school year, as a fellowship meal for church members and community friends, free or with a freewill offering. Families, senior citizen friend groups, children and youth, all claimed their preferred tables, chatted, ate together, nurtured long friendships and made new connections. It was community and fellowship in real time. I loved it.
In March 2020, the Church Council invited us to consider a new challenge — to continue to feed people and meet their needs even though we could not invite them into the Social Hall.
From one week to the next, we became a Drive Through! The oversized portico, which I had loved to poke fun at, became the perfect setting for distributing meals. All my Facebook menu posts said “Just crive up to the giant portico.”
Menu planning went from a dozen buffet choices to four items that package well. Fellowship happened 45 seconds at a time, through the car window. At Pastor April’s suggestion, we involved the children, the youth, and the quilters in making and handing out small gifts of caring — love rocks, car air fresheners, Christmas cookies in fabric gift bags.
It has been a precious time, and I do believe we fed souls as well as bodies.
Two and a half years later, we all long for connection, for fellowship, for a good sit-down meal!
It will be wonderful to resume in-person dining in the Social Hall next month!
But we need your help.
We need about twice as many team members for fellowship dining compared to packing and distributing drive-through meals. The preparation and cooking are about the same, with two or three people working from 3pm to bake, cook the hot dishes, and prepare the salads.
But we need at least six people to serve the meal safely and to provide hospitality. We need a server at the beverage and dessert tables.
We need a server or two at the entrance to distribute the takeout meals, which we will continue. (We will close off the drive through and invite people inside to dine or to pick up takeout.)
And we need at least three people on cleanup — a dishwasher, someone to dry dishes, and someone to package leftovers.
So, I am eager to get back to serving delicious, hot, sit-down fellowship meals to all who come! But I have to be honest that I am anxious about gathering a team that can meet all these needs, graciously and safely.
If you like to cook, if you like to plate entrees, if you like to pour lemonade, if you enjoy welcoming and chatting, please come join us!
And if your contribution is just to come sit and dine with us, please come! We would love to welcome you!
We start September 7th, 5:30-6:30pm in the Social Hall!
Blessings,
Beth
Beth Nall Latella
Chief Cook and Bottlewasher
beth.latella @ gmail.com
