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Tuesday, February 9, 2010 |
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Churches get set for special holiday meals
Published November 22, 2009
SEGUIN — Not everyone can afford turkey, dressing and all of the fixings.
That’s why two local churches are doing everything they can to help by making sure everybody gets a warm Thanksgiving meal.
The Greater Second Baptist Church and Our Lady of Guadalupe are each hosting a Thanksgiving dinner to give aid to the elderly, needy and the homeless.
On Wednesday, Nov. 25, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. the confirmation students of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church will be serving its 14th Annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner.
Glenda Moreno, director of religious studies, said children, ages 14-16, sponsor the meal as their community service project.
“This is a way they can get their community service hours,” she said. “They work this from start to finish. This is all of the kids. These kids have been working hard and they will continue to work hard.”
It will be a long week.
“We started last Sunday preparing the meal and we will work again this Sunday,” she said. “Then on Tuesday we will finish preparing the meals and decorate as much as we can.”
Moreno said the kids and their families enjoy participating in the event.
“The youth are willing to do all of the work and they really get into it and it’s just awesome,” she said.
Because the group is looking to serve more than 1,800 dinners, Moreno said there was more food than the church’s kitchen could handle.
“It’s great to see how we coordinate,” she said. “Also, everyone brings in corn bread and everybody is crumbling the corn bread for the dressing in an assembly style.”
Moreno said those not able to make it to the parish hall will still have an opportunity to enjoy the meal.
“Those who are home bound can give us a call and tell us and we are in coordination with the district attorney’s office, the sheriff’s office and the police department to deliver the dinners,” she said.
This year’s meal will have turkey and dressing, vegetables and mashed potatoes.
For delivery call (830) 379-2818 or (830) 379-4338.
On the day of thanks, the Greater Second Baptist Church and friends are hosting their second Thanksgiving Day Feeding.
Kim Cooper, organizer, said this was a newer tradition the house of worship started last year.
“The church that we come from in San Antonio did it every year, so we started it [here] last year,” she said. “Everything has been donated from our church and we have some friends from the Zion Hill Baptist Church on 123. And we had friends in the community and friends of friends who said they didn’t want to cook [at home] but that they did want to help other people.”
Last year, the effort was able to help about 100 people, a number Cooper said she hopes to surpass this year.
“This year we want more people to know, especially with the economy,” she said. “One of our deacons has walked around on foot handing out over 100 flyers. Our goal is to feed people that are hungry, feed people that are less fortunate, that don’t have the money and this way they don’t have to worry about cooking.”
The Greater Second Baptist Church will offer a delivery service to those who are in need of it, Cooper said.
“The elderly can stay home and we will deliver to them or those that are not able to drive,” she said.
The meal will be served in the fellowship hall buffet-style, Cooper said.
“They will walk through and we will be serving the public by serving the food on their plates and deciding what they want to have,” she said. “Then we will have people in the back fixing plates that need to be delivered to the elderly. We are going to have friends from around the community helping to deliver plates to them that are already cooked.”
Before dinner, there will be a brief Thanksgiving service, Cooper said.
“That service is a prayer of thanks giving and praise,” she said. “Just thanking the Lord for bringing us through the year and thanking him for us to be able to provide a meal to those who are less fortunate or those who just want to come out and be a part of it. There are so many people who have volunteered to come out and help.”
The service will start at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 26 and the meal of turkey and dressing, ham, vegetables, salads, roll, deserts and drinks will begin at 11 a.m.
“We didn’t put a stop time because we will not stop until we are finished,” Cooper said. “If we are still feeding at 2 p.m. we will continue while people are still eating.”
To make reservations for delivery call Rev. Jesse Griffin at (210) 391-5941 or Kim Cooper at (210) 724-9469.
Before sitting down to those tasty meals, a gathering of faiths are inviting community members to join in a single prayer.
Nearly a dozen local churches are coming together for a day of praise at Emanuel’s Lutheran Church on Tuesday, Nov. 24.
Tom Engler, Emanuel’s Lutheran Church music director, said the 6th Annual Thanksgiving Service was started to give everyone a common place to give thanks.
“We thought that this was the healthy thing to do and we have brought different denominations, ethnic groups and concepts together,” he said. “Thanksgiving is not a liturgical holiday, it’s just a patriotic observance. This gives a place where people can give thanks to God for all of the benefits of being Americans and all of the things like that.”
The yearly celebration has continued to grow since it started in 2003, Engler said.
We have done this for six years in a row and we keep adding more and more churches each time,” he said. “We started with two or three and now we are up to 11.”
During the ceremony a special offering will be taken on behalf of the Guadalupe Regional Medical Center’s prescription drug program, Engler said.
“A lot of times when someone is released from the hospital the doctor will give them a prescription or two to fill and often they don’t have the cash to do it,” he said. “So, the hospital maintains a prescription drug program funds to give money to people who need to fill prescriptions. There is a lot of draw on it and not a lot of opportunity to fill it, so, this is one of the things that we are trying to do.”
Engler said the event is open to everybody at no cost.
Downtown churches joining on the service are Cross United Church of Christ, Second Baptist Church, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, St. James Catholic Church, First United Methodist, Greater Refuge of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Victory Outreach, La Trinidad United Methodist Church, Wesley Harper United Methodist Church and Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church.
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