Dorothy Stenger (left) and Margaret Keil prepare a


‘A hot mealin a cold


meal to be served at St. Luke Lutheran Church, Valatie, N.Y.


Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price (Isaiah 55:1).


“ W month’ By Susan Sundwall


Upstate N.Y. church knows about timing


40 www.thelutheran.org


e intentionally chose the winter months,” explained James Slater. “That’s when the need is the greatest.”


Slater is pastor of St. Luke (Valatie) and Emanuel


(Stuyvesant Falls) Lutheran churches in upstate New York. For eight years the linked congregations have offered a free dinner on Tuesday evenings in January, February and March. At it you’ll find good food and drink, as well as gratitude and grace before everyone digs in. A typical dinner might include choices of soup along with crusty breads, a salad bar and a bounty of desserts. And just like the verses from Isaiah, guests eat without money or price. It took awhile for the idea to take hold, and Slater


admits there were more workers than guests for the first dinner. But the outreach committee got busy and began advertising. Fliers in English and Spanish were posted all over town. Since then “we’ve had to open up the Sunday school rooms,” Slater said. Recent years have seen growth from 60, then 100, and finally leveling out at about 150 diners each week. As word spread and community groups learned of the


dinners, more eager hands reached out to help—the Boy Scouts, the Roman Catholic and Reformed churches, the hospital auxiliary and the rescue squad. Local merchants donate food and paper products. Groups begin signing up just before Christmas to sponsor (and cook) dinners and the three-month roster fills quickly. A table is set aside for food overflow, and guests are provided bags and encouraged to take leſtovers home.


SUE HOTALING


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