More From Andrew Garnett

I wrote “Building Bridges” in January 2022. I wrote about pastoring a church that has a long-running program to serve our neighbors who are experiencing homelessness or food insecurity. We call the program SAME—an acronym for “So All May Eat.” This program has grown very large in recent years. In 2022, we used 65 tons (59 metric tons) of food to provide 160,000 meals. SAME is run almost entirely by volunteers. Last year it took 7,000 volunteer hours to make the program possible. Most of those volunteers are not members of our church.

The fact that most volunteers come from outside the church, combined with the huge scale of the program, can sometimes make my church members anxious. “It feels like this program is taking over our church,” they worry. “By bringing in so many volunteers from outside our congregation, have we lost our Christian identity?”

The unease hasn’t been cured in the last year and a half, but we have tried to take some steps forward. One important moment for us was a series of listening sessions about SAME. Because much of the programming happens at lunch on Mondays, many church members never have the opportunity to see it for themselves. The listening sessions helped to educate members about what is happening, how far-reaching and impactful the program has become, and some of the challenges that the ministry still faces. I also recorded two sets of video interviews: one with those who are served by SAME, and one with volunteers who serve at SAME. Members of my congregation particularly enjoyed hearing these perspectives, and it gave them a greater connection to the good work that is happening.

At these listening sessions, we also collected feedback from the church about the direction of SAME. We’ve formed a small group to study the ministry with an eye toward improving on what is already happening and creating a strategic plan for the future. It is my hope that a well-defined path forward will give some reassurance to the congregation.

But most of all, I’ve continued to encourage my congregation to believe that the promises of the gospel are true—that “no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us” (Mk. 9:39-40, NRSVUE). To be able serve alongside people from outside our congregation is an important opportunity to bear witness to Christ. More importantly, we have the chance to repair some of the damage that has been done in Jesus’ name; when we serve others in love and without judgment, we demonstrate a different way of being Christian.