FOUNTAINTOWN — Fried chicken. Soup and salad. Ham with sides. Cooked by someone else.
The congregation of a local church hopes people in their community will take them up on a weekly offer to stop in and have supper.
“It’s a blessing to see families come in and sit down with other families and have a relaxed meal,” said Steve Hodgen, a member of The Fountain and a regular at the church’s Wednesday evening dinners.
The Fountain has launched a free community meal at 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays at the church, 797 W. Brookville Road, Fountaintown.
“It was a way to love on our community and share the love of Jesus to the community. There’s a lot of people who are hurting,” said Joshua Hahn, senior minister. The weekly meals also offer one meal a week that people don’t have to think about, he said.
About 40 volunteers take responsibility for preparing and serving the meals. Among them are people with experience working in a cafeteria or running a restaurant — people who know how to cook for a large group.
“This is a wonderful thing to offer families,” said Deb Kraft, executive assistant at the church, who coordinates the meals. “You can get meals to go if you want.”
The volunteers are grouped into teams of 10, and each team is assigned to a certain week of the month, so volunteers typically serve once a month.
Within a team, two people set up tables and chairs. Two more coordinate desserts. That leaves about six people to shop for ingredients, prepare the meal and serve it.
Like the teams, the menus also have a rotation. The meal on the first Wednesday of the month features chicken from the Bluebird Restaurant in nearby Morristown. The second Wednesday meal has taken different forms on different nights: lasagna, spaghetti, pulled pork, or soups and salads. The third week features Dave’s BBQ. Fourth-week meals are ham with broccoli and other sides.
When the occasional fifth Wednesday comes around in a month, the meal is a special one-off, such as a pizza night with bingo and prizes. Kraft said the church tries to support local businesses by buying the prizes from them, such as sweets from Greenfield Chocolates or The Cakehole, or a Bluebird pie.
Regardless of what’s on the menu for the night, those who go say it’s always served with a side of connection, especially after a couple of years in which many events such as church dinners were curtailed or canceled amid COVID-19 concerns.
“You didn’t have those regular conversations with people, just catching up,” Hahn said. “It’s given us another venue for conversation and relationships.” The church is close-knit like a family, he said, and “When you’re not able to spend time with your family, it’s going to take a toll.”
That metaphor also resonates with Kraft.
“Gathering to have meals is a family type of thing to do. Families gather for meals,” she said. “People like to build community with one another.”
Hahn leads a Bible study that meets later in the evening, at 6:30 p.m. While some people stay for that, and anyone is welcome to attend that or a service, he said there’s no expectation placed on diners that they’ll linger for that or show up on Sunday.
“It’s no pressure whatsoever,” Hodgen said; people who come to dinner can simply “sit down and enjoy themselves.”
“This is an opportunity,” Hahn said, “for them to come and have a free meal and get to know a group of people who would really enjoy getting to know them and their family and their stories. It’s a great way to just break up your week and enjoy some food and fellowship.”
DINNER TIME
Dinner is served at 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays at The Fountain, 797 W. Brookville Road, Fountaintown.
