Meals

Re 6pm Meal Teams I f you are interested in volunteering to serve on the meal team. I thought I should outline some of the reasoning behind the 5pm meal to give you a bigger picture of the work that you are doing. Below are excerpts from a working document we are putting together for the meal teams, it also has a suggested menu for each night (variations welcome!!!). In Christ Dave Tweed 6pm Meal Teams Purpose Through the provision of meals, people experience welcoming relationships with others where conversations take place and people feel a real sense of belonging. Strategy Providing shared meal experiences that people love being part of. Story Jesus frequently shared meals with people to show his acceptance of them. In Mark’s gospel we are told: ““While He was reclining at the table in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also guests with Jesus and His disciples, because there were many who were following Him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard this, He told them, “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick do need one. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”” (Mark 2:15–17) We don’t remove ourselves from others but seek to include them into our lives and challenge them with what it means to follow Jesus. Shared meals are an opportunity to extend connections with others and have conversations. Doing this as a church means those with reduced capacity to extend hospitality individually can be part of the experience of doing it together as a church. Meals are a vital expression of Christian fellowship and occasions of thanksgiving. It was in this context that ‘the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved’ (v. 47b). Philosophy By extending hospitality as a church we extend a welcome to others and provide a context for gospel conversations. Culture Our part of Sydney places a high value on take away food and the street food experience. This is not just about feeding people, but giving them a very positive experience. Values that shape this ministry Street foodish - Street Food is really popular with people and has a fun and informal vibe. Anything on a stick and anything that involves choosing and personalising a meal is great. Super tasty - pack things with flavour! Sustainable - can’t be too difficult to do each week for a small team and great if we are environmentally sustainable as well Scalable - we want to be able to do this for hundreds of people Speedy - it might need a bit of preparation before Sunday, then 30min before church, nothing during the structured time at church, then 20min after the structured time at church before the first food is served. Program This ministry would revolve around the monthly serving pattern of some of our ministry teams. It would mean a team would be on a meal once per month and at the 5pm congregation and part of a larger group of teams who are carrying out this ministry each week. The plan would be for each team to have two ‘menus’ so that there is a variation in what is served and a difference in complexity between the two meals. One would be easier and one harder. Possible plan: Week of month Menu First month Menu Second month Week 1 Pies Salad and Mash Fried Rice Week 2 Korean Bowls Nacho Bowls Week 3 Hot Dogs Buffalo Wings Week 4 Pulled Pork/Burgers Corn Week 5 Organising buying pizza (First half of year Team 2 and second half of year Team 3) Other options Mexican Corn with Mac and Cheese Lamb Skewers/Indian Vegetarian Curries Chicken Tandoori rolls Baked Ham (Christmas Special) Drinks Aim to have chilled water at least but you can create something special if you like. Please avoid soft drinks as they are an expensive and less healthy option. Hospitality and Money To fund this ministry we need people to pay. The idea is for it to be a reasonable amount ($5) and to provide a mechanism for those that can’t afford it or who are new to be fed for free. Tokens are used and there are extras for those who can't afford to pay. We should all be aware of those struggling to pay. Use of EFT machine for payment is fast, contactless and effective (no Cash to spread disease). Food Allergies and Preferences (like Vegetarian) Please be aware that some people can die if they eat the wrong foods (eg nuts). We need to let people know about ingredients if they ask so that they can make a reasoned decision. In this light kids should be fed under the management of their parents/guardians. We should also be thinking of a vegetarian option for each meal and not just the salad... (focus on quality). Food Handling and Risk Management Have at least one person in the church trained as a NSW FOOD SAFETY SUPERVISOR and most team members familiar with appropriate food handling practices. http://cleartowork.com.au/food-handling-non-accred... https://www.foodsafety.com.au/courses/food-safety-... https://www.accessallareastraining.com.au/courses/... https://www.accessallareastraining.com.au/courses/... Sample past menu Date Team Menu 18/4/2021 3 Hot dogs 25/4/2021 4 Corn 2/5/2021 1 Fried Rice 9/5/2021 2 Nacho Bowls 16/5/2021 3 Buffalo Wings 23/5/2021 4 Pulled pork 31/5/2021 2 Pizza 6/6/2021 1 Pies Salad Mash 13/6/2021 2 Korean Bowls 20/6/2021 3 Hot Dogs 27/6/2021 4 Corn These menu items are what we have done in the past and are only suggestions, variations to the menu are welcome!! Keep it new ! Prayer Keep praying for this work, that it would enable people to talk, share and feel part of our church. Also that they would be able to talk about what they have heard in God's word that night. David Tweed Grace West Anglican Church