Kentucky Baptist churches work to feed state’s hungry
- Nov 3, 2008 -
OWENSBORO, Ky.—Eaton Memorial Baptist Church has sat at the corner of Third and Orchard Streets in downtown Owensboro for 100 years now—“God’s Corner,” the church has lovingly nicknamed it.
The church began as a mission in 1908 to serve its community. On the outside, the church has changed cosmetically over the years, but seemingly little has changed the congregation’s purpose. Eaton Memorial’s mission: To serve its community right where it is—a community that has changed in a century, not necessarily for the better.
“There’s just a lot of need, a lot of drugs, a lot of alcohol,” Pastor Dennis McFadden explained. “There are just a lot of things right here and we’re sitting here in the midst of it.”
Like many of Kentucky’s inner-city and rural communities, hunger is a huge problem. According to a 2007 report from the Food Research and Action Center, a national nonprofit hunger organization, 16.8 percent of the commonwealth’s population lived below the poverty line in 2005, ninth worst in the United States.
Not far off was the percentage of Kentucky households that were “food insecure,” a term used to describe a family’s lack of available food to properly provide nourishment for themselves. Between 2003 and 2005, FRAC reported that 12.8 percent of Kentucky families were deemed food insecure. Factor in current economic conditions and a dramatic rise in food prices since the report was issued and food insecurity likely has worsened.
Thanksgiving outreach
Nearly four years ago, while exploring the possibility of a community-wide Thanksgiving meal, McFadden said he was startled to learn that nearly 90 percent of local elementary school students were on a reduced- or free-lunch program. More than 56 percent of students statewide participated in such programs during the 2005-06 school year, according to the FRAC report.
“It put up a red flag that there is a need here with food,” McFadden recalled.
Buoyed by a tremendous response with the Thanksgiving meal, Eaton Memorial soon began its weekly Neighborhood Supper ministry. Each Monday night, more than 70 people from the community sit down for a hot, home-cooked meal at the church. Joann Clary and a dozen volunteers prepare the meal while McFadden presents the gospel to those who need to hear it.
“We’re trying to … let them know that church is not just for people who dress up; church is for God’s children, whoever they are,” said Clary, who has coordinated Neighborhood Supper with her husband, Donald, since it began three years ago.
Individual churches are able to operate such ministries through donations, fundraising efforts and monetary resources like the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund. Churches can request these funds through the Kentucky Baptist Convention, which receives quarterly money from the North American Mission Board, according to Eric Allen, KBC’s mission service and ministries director.
The Southern Baptist Convention designated Oct. 12 as a day to raise awareness for its World Hunger Fund, but as Allen pointed out, “There is a critical need to replenish our world hunger funds” year round.
Important funding
This year alone, the convention has distributed more than $58,000 to hunger relief ministries in the state, he said. However, NAMB denied one KBC request for funds last year because of a lack of available money.
Allen explained that a church’s food ministry is so important “because it meets a physical need, opening the door for the building of relationships and the sharing of the gospel.”
“Faith-based food ministries offer the message of hope that only Christ can provide because they share the bread of life when giving physical nourishment,” he added.
Food distribution ministries are another way Kentucky Baptist churches are serving the state’s neediest families. A survey of Pulaski County schools a few years ago—similar to that of Eaton Memorial’s research—revealed to Eubank Baptist Church leaders that nearly three-quarters of nearby elementary school students participated in reduced- or free-lunch programs.
The church had originally operated a small food closet, but the reality of local need prompted a few church members to ramp up their efforts.
Members Bill and Penny Jones, and Phyllis Mick teamed up to expand the ministry, partnering with several area government food distribution centers and local merchants to collect food.
Dozens of food items are boxed up and distributed once a month at the church. Penny Jones estimated that she and dozens of volunteers serve more than 200 families one Saturday each month.
“It’s good to see these people come in and (receive) just the little amount sometimes that we can give them,” Jones noted. “Some of the people say that’s the only way they can make it through to the end of the month.”
While the pastors at both Eubank and Eaton Memorial acknowledge that their churches have experienced little membership growth through their food ministries, hunger relief remains a top priority.
“It is a most meaningful ministry because it puts God’s people truly in ministry mode,” Eubank Baptist Pastor Shelby Reynolds explained.
“The true purpose is to share the bread of life,” he added. “People will receive the bread of life better when you give them food for the stomach.”
This article is reprinted from the October 21, 2008, issue of the Western Recorder, the newspaper of the Kentucky Baptist Convention.
Further Learning
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