Erica, it’s simple. People who grow food have too much, while some people go hungry. There must be a way to get the excess produce from the growers to the hungry.
There was a way, and my friend John Walker called it “gleaning”— a biblical practice of leaving some of your crops in the field for the poor.
The Stewpot, a ministry of First Presbyterian Church of Dallas, recently served its 8 millionth meal — equivalent to 13 million pounds or 2,800 pallets of food — marking a major milestone in the ministry’s 44-year history.
Building bridges between Central Presbyterian Church in Des Moines, Iowa, and others in the faith community is the thinking behind a series of get-to-know-you meals the congregation is calling “souper suppers.”
Erica, it’s simple. People who grow food have too much, while some people go hungry. There must be a way to get the excess produce from the growers to the hungry.
The Food Center at Morrisville Presbyterian Church in Pennsylvania opened more than two decades ago as an emergency resource. As the federal government shutdown dragged into its fourth week, volunteers there realized a new emergency was developing.
“Ron Workman, who is our treasurer, is the one who suggested we might want to look into offering food to furloughed federal employees,” says Carol Romano, operations manager for the food bank.
Fresh out of seminary, a pastor listens intently as the chair of the nominating committee drives around the countryside, narrating the history of a rural community that has seen better days. As she listens, she takes note of the sagging porches with faded and torn upholstered furniture. They pass sheep grazing behind a dilapidated barn, and the pastor silently reminds God that this was not what she had in mind when she said “yes” to tending the flock.
Twenty-seven years of Saturdays, approximately 1,400 consecutive weekends of serving the “best meal in town,” is a pretty good track record of commitment. That’s how long Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester, New York, has been running its dining room ministry, a hot meal program that started in 1991 and serves approximately 80 people each week. But that’s not enough for this 1,200-member congregation in north central New York. Their emergency food program has been similarly active for more than 20 years, and another hunger initiative, the East Avenue Grocery Run, a mere child at 9 years old, might be the most impactful program of all three.
La Semana de Acción de las Iglesias por los Alimentos comenzó el domingo 14 de octubre, y se extenderá hasta el 21 de octubre. La semana ofrece al pueblo cristiano de todo el mundo la oportunidad de abordar las cuestiones de justicia y sostenibilidad alimentaria. La Semana de Acción de las Iglesias por los Alimentos incluye el Día Mundial de la Alimentación (16 de octubre), el Día Internacional de la Mujer Rural (15 de octubre), y el Día Internacional para la Erradicación de la Pobreza (17 de octubre). Este año, el Programa Presbiteriano contra el Hambre (PHP) celebra a más de 100 congregaciones que actúan contra el hambre (HAC) que abogan por la justicia alimentaria no sólo una semana, sino durante todo el año, como parte de su ministerio.
The Global Food Week of Action began Sunday, Oct. 14, and runs through Oct. 21. The week provides Christians around the world a chance to address food justice and sovereignty issues. Food Week of Action includes World Food Day (Oct. 16), International Day for Rural Women (Oct. 15), and International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (Oct. 17). This year, the Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP) celebrates more than 100 congregations as Hunger Action Congregations (HAC) that advocate for food justice not just one week during the year, but year-round, as part of their ministry outreach.
Many churches preach about poverty and hunger a few times a year, but Tippecanoe Presbyterian Church in Milwaukee lives out its ministries with the poor 365 days a year.
