Chocolate eggs and ministry

An Easter tradition continues

by Sherry Blackman | Presbyterians Today

For three decades, the First Presbyterian Church in Kernersville, North Carolina, has been sweetening its community connections with its chocolate egg ministry. Courtesy of First Presbyterian Church

“Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” has nothing on the First Presbyterian Church in Kernersville, North Carolina. Break open any one of their hand-dipped chocolate Easter eggs, filled with assorted creamy confections, and you will taste hope and generosity. Moreover, you will understand why these delectable creations have enabled the church to breathe new life into the community at large.

For the past 30 years, the church has earned the nickname “the egg church” for a good reason. Their profitable “egg-laying” fundraiser began in 1991 when the congregation built a fellowship hall that carried a $250,000 mortgage, says the Rev. George Murray, who served as the pastor then. The first year, the fundraiser brought in $3,000. By 1999, with profits of $114,000, the debt was paid. Not only did the eggs raise enough funds to get the church out of hock, but it also raised an awareness of the ways the church and community can accomplish far more together for the common good, than apart.

“To outsiders, they are just delicious chocolate Easter eggs. But to us, they have become a powerful witness as to what God can do when everyone works together,” said Donna Myers, one of the original “egg-layers” on the day the mortgage note was burned 23 years ago.

“Throughout the years, it enabled us to do something most small churches wouldn’t even think about,” said the now-retired Murray.

The church continues to financially support various charities and community endeavors, including the local police department’s Camp for Kids, as well as support its own church’s scholarship fund and youth mission activities. Over the past two years, the church donated more than $34,000. And the list of charities and organizations continues to grow.

Every year during Lent, the church becomes a hive of activity. The fellowship hall is crammed with dozens of volunteers, and many of them are members of other churches. Except for a hiatus during Lent 2020 due to the pandemic, the crew, affectionately referred to as the “Holy Rollers,” produces approximately 60,000 to 80,000 hand-dipped eggs annually. On average, the team produces six batches a day, which translates to thousands of Easter eggs, each individually wrapped in pastel-colored foil.

Sometimes there are as many as a hundred people involved, and every year new volunteers join the team. Everyone has a task, whether melting the chocolate or wrapping the eggs. The Rev. John Pruitt, the current pastor, is no exception: He has his assignment as well.

“This fundraiser is a key ministry of the church as we’ve been able to draw the people of Kernersville here,” said Pruitt. “It’s a way for us to gather together, enjoy fellowship and socialize. It has transformed our greater community, turning what was once debt relief into generosity.”

If you are looking for the confectionery recipe, though, mum’s the word for the good folks of First Presbyterian Kernersville. The tale of the chocolate eggs goes that a new transplant from another church settled in Kernersville 30 years ago and connected the two churches. Once it was decided that the churches were far enough apart and presented no competition, the recipe was shared, albeit sworn to secrecy. It will only be passed on to the next generation of Holy Rollers.

At the start, Myers and Norma Stikeleather experimented with creating the confections at home. But after a couple of burned-out mixers, and with the appetite growing for these symbolic Easter treats, they had to move the operation into the fellowship hall’s newly minted kitchen and invest in commercial-grade mixers.

To their credit, this dynamic duo charged all the ingredients to their personal accounts to not burden the church if the experiment went bust. But it didn’t take long for the town to crave the chocolate-covered goodies as the duo carted their batches everywhere they went: banks, hair salons, restaurants and more. Once sampled, the town was sold.

Ever since, the orders keep coming, many beyond Kernersville’s city limits, due to social media and drooling word of mouth. Typically, orders begin to arrive before Thanksgiving.

Church member Ellen Watts is at the helm now and is taking the egg ministry to a new level. She’s the one who instituted the suggested donation of $1 for each egg made that is larger than a hen’s egg. But no matter one’s egg-making skills, she says the best part of this seasonal ministry is working with others: not just church members, but volunteers from different organizations. That connection is what created the church’s “Presbyterian GadAbouts,” which is known simply as PGA. The group grew when folks wanted to continue meeting together, sharing meals, and planning trips and mission projects beyond Easter.

“This ministry has made me more aware of the needs in our community. I know I am called to love God and neighbor, and this gives me an opportunity to do that,” said Watts.

And the sweetest thing of all is that it is a mission that cannot be done by just one person. “You can’t be the hands and feet of God without the people of God,” said Watts.

The Rev. Sherry Blackman is a writer and pastor of Presbyterian Church of the Mountain in Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania.

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