At Southside Abbey, we eat dinner together. That means we have lots of free food. This Lent, we are going to be having soup for dinner every Friday. With the rates of homelessness in our congregation, folks might be tempted to think of us as a soup kitchen. It would be an easy mistake to make. There is definitely a similarity in that people experiencing homelessness can come to us and get food for free. But that is where the similarity ends.
Here are things we do, (or try to do) that differentiate us from a soup kitchen:
1. We have everyone help prepare the space, put out chairs, light candles, pass out liturgies. We try to get everyone involved.
2. We have everyone lead the prayers, rich or poor, black or white. It is a participatory liturgy.
3. We share the Holy Eucharist almost every time we meet. We are a church (of sorts) after all.
4. We all eat the food together. It is a meal for everyone, not just the poor and hungry.
5. We have discussions about the lectionary reading for the week, even when one would be hard pressed to find any common ground among our congregant's backgrounds and assumptions.
6. We all clean up together. Put away chairs. Collect trash. Sweep the floors. Bless each other.
We aren't looking to just give food away to the poor at Southside Abbey. There are plenty of places poor people can get food for free in Chattanooga. What we offer is a community, the sacraments, corporate prayer, and a full meal. We offer a church full of people who are not at all alike. We feel Jesus would have liked it that way.
