Covenant News

Providing Meals Helps Create Sense of Belonging

LEXINGTON, MA (April 29, 2004) - Community Partners recently celebrated 20 years of ministry at Trinity Covenant Church with a special service, including church music ensembles and a musical video presentation to highlight the history of the ministry.

Members who have been running the church's Sunday afternoon meal ministry were relieved from their duties by other volunteers so they could enjoy a catered dinner that included more than 75 guests, according to the ministry's volunteer coordinator, Nancy Leskiw. Former pastors returned for the event, as did some of the early volunteers for the ministry who have moved elsewhere.

Leskiw and Buckley discussed the ministry (which usually serves meals on the second Sunday of the month) during a Sunday morning worship service and noted that well over one-half of the congregation has served the ministry in some form. Current pastor Doug Cederberg presented Buckley with a special certificate of recognition from the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Trinity Covenant Church's Evangelism Missions and Outreach commission oversees the work of Community Partners, which began its work in April 1984. At that time, pastor John Satterberg and Victoria Buckley, a social worker with the State of Massachusetts Department of Human Services, helped organize the meal ministry, which began on a three-month trial basis and now serves 35 people each Sunday in this city of approximately 30,000 located near Boston.

Food contributions from many in the congregation have made it possible for Community Partners to serve others for two decades. A core group of nearly a dozen has been serving nearly every Sunday and others provide pre-event cooking, baking and behind-the-scenes work. Phil Turner, Dick Bengston, Esther Gray, Frances Bullen and Elsa Widell are among those who were integral in helping Trinity Covenant maintain the ministry in the early years. Now, the program runs smoothly with a solid core group and occasional help from others.

For some financially strapped residents, a free Sunday meal from Trinity Covenant is a godsend. And the church has even gone the extra mile (or two) to help. Some who receive meals at the church suffer from some form of mental illness - some have addictions or are in recovery. Buckley, who didn't attend the church when she first approached Trinity Covenant with the idea of Community Partners, is now a parishioner who has turned the Sunday meal into an all-church ministry.

Said Buckley in a recent church newsletter report, "Guests enjoy socializing, listening to music, watching sports games and eating together. The open acceptance and genuine caring that is always consistently the fabric of Community Partners helps break down the social stigma of mental illness and this makes people appreciated for being themselves."

Along with making people feel welcome, the church has addressed some of the needs, finding practical ways to lend a hand. Parishioners often pick up some of the regular guests from a bus station in a neighboring community. Some have been picked up from a local hospital and other nearby towns.

"It's not that there isn't any food available for some of these special needs people, but especially on weekends, there aren't places where people can get a healthy, balanced meal," Leskiw said. "It's good home-cooked food and we take into account some special dietary regulations. A lot of these folks are living on the edge - many are living in group homes or a VA hospital - and we'll make sure that people get a ride if they want to come.

"There are times when we've only got four or five volunteers in the kitchen during the summer, but we go throughout the year because lots of people still want to come," Leskiw continued. "I think it's the acceptance and the social part that's important. Victoria (Buckley) has announcements and keeps track of people and these people see this as a community. A few years ago, pastor Chris Haydon donated his time to lead a funeral service for a man from the community who had no money (the church provided funds for a proper burial) and these people we serve call our pastor their pastor. It's definitely more than just a free meal - it's like their community."

For more information about Community Partners, call Trinity Covenant at 781-861-0780 or email the church at trinitycovenant@rcn.com.

Printable version of this page.