wfn.org | LWI 2008-092 FEATURE: Nourishment for the Body and Soul

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FEATURE: Nourishment for the Body and Soul 

ELCA Congregation Volunteers Welcome Special Guests to Weekly
Banquet

BISMARCK, North Dakota, USA/GENEVA, 23 December 2008 (LWI) - At
around 5 p.m. every Thursday, rain or shine, the guests start
arriving outside Trinity Lutheran Church, a congregation of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in Bismarck, North
Dakota, USA, for a banquet. Volunteers—the true cornerstone of
the Trinity community—begin to greet the guests, visiting with
them outside the doors that open promptly at 5:30 p.m. 
Regulars fill each other in on their weeks. Smiles are
contagious. When the doors open, more volunteers will be waiting
to escort guests to a table for a hot and delicious meal, free of
charge. 
Unlike most of the meals they've had this year, this one will be
enjoyed on a beautiful table setting, complete with fresh
flowers, colorful decorations, menus, and real china and
silverware. 
Hosted by Pastors Steve A. Sathre and Nathan C. Keith, and with
dozens of volunteers organized each week by Banquet Coordinator
Tudy Fennern, Trinity’s banquet welcomes any and all homeless and
hungry members of the community with open arms each and every
week. Founded on the belief that "the needy should never be
served poorly," the banquet's goal is simple: to nourish the body
with food and the spirit with dignity and respect.

The tables, which seat eight, fill quickly with seven guests,
escorted by yet another volunteer. The final seat remains open
for one of the volunteers who has cooked and served the meal to
join them in the family-style meal. The food is delicious -
prepared with fine, fresh ingredients, and perfectly spiced with
compassion. As freshly baked and donated bread is broken, stories
are exchanged. Laughter is shared. And hope is restored. 

Trinity banquet volunteers return, week after week. They come
from churches and groups within the community, often hearing
about it from a member of the Trinity congregation. They come
from all walks of life. They get every bit as much - if not more
- out of each Thursday's meal. Camaraderie. Conversation. The joy
of knowing that they've not only helped nourish their neighbors’
bodies with food - they've nourished their souls with dignity,
respect, and love. Started with 103 guests, the weekly Trinity
banquet serves up to 400 people.Breaking the Cycle of Hunger
The Trinity banquet is one of several ways in which the ELCA
through its World Hunger Appeal, encourages its congregations to
take up initiatives to help eradicate hunger throughout the
world. The solution to hunger goes way beyond getting a person to
their next meal. Every day, in ELCA ministries and companion
congregations spanning the globe, people help their brothers,
sisters, and neighbors, providing the food, shelter, education
and resources to help eradicate world hunger. Last year alone,
the ELCA collected more than USD 20 million through the ELCA
World Hunger Appeal, a comprehensive and sustainable
multi-strategy program designed to provide immediate relief,
sustainable development, and to break the cycle of hunger through
advocacy and education, responding to those in need at home and
around the world.

According to ELCA's World Hunger program, some 35.5 million
people (including 12.6 million children), representing 10.9
percent of the total population, experience hunger or the risk of
hunger in the USA. These numbers include four percent of the
country’s households (11.1 million people, among who are 430,000
children), with some families skipping meals, eating too little,
or going a whole day without food. 

In 2007, an average of 26.5 million people participated in the
Food Stamp Program each month. In 2006, requests for emergency
food assistance increased seven percent. Of those requesting
emergency food assistance, 48 percent were members of families
with children, and 37 percent of adults requesting assistance
were employed. America’s Second Harvest, the nation’s largest
network of food banks, reported that an estimated 24 to 27
million people turned to its agencies in 2006.

The international work of ELCA World Hunger is carried out with
the Lutheran World Federation, of which the ELCA is a member, and
with Lutheran World Relief, the ELCA and Lutheran Church-Missouri
Synod relief and development agency. (695 words)

(This feature is provided courtesy of the ELCA Communication
Services unit.)

*The article is the first in an LWI features’ series that will
focus on the topic "Give Us Today Our Daily Bread," the theme of
the LWF Eleventh Assembly, which will take place 20-27 July 2010
in Stuttgart, Germany. 
*        *          *

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF
currently has 140 member churches in 79 countries all over the
world, with a total membership of over 68.3 million. The LWF acts
on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such
as ecumenical and interfaith relations, theology, humanitarian
assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in
Geneva, Switzerland.)

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