SUPPER at St. Martin's

Chestnut Hill resident Debra Roberts, 62, had the idea for a meal ministry at the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields nearly a year ago. She researched food insecurity in the area, and recalled everyone saying, “Come on, it’s Chestnut Hill.” In other words, people in our community have all the food they need.

To Roberts’ surprise, though, she found dozens of foreclosures in the area over the last few years, as well as parishioners from her own church that were facing difficult times and decisions.

“People were struggling with anxiety, embarrassment, and fear because this wasn’t supposed to be happening in Chestnut Hill. They were not used to coping with these things and they found it very difficult,” she explained. “We thought, let’s do this for our church, for the whole community. Let’s make it free.”

With the support of their new rector, The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel, and a grant from The Dorothy V. Cassard Fund at the Philadelphia Foundation, St. Martin’s started their SUPPER program on February 29. The first Wednesday evening they fed dinner to 58 people; the second night saw 69 people, then 76, then 98. Initially a weekly program, it is now held the second and fourth Wednesday of every month.

But don’t call it a soup kitchen. “It was methodically not called a soup kitchen because of the connotation. It’s a meal; we want people to sit down and enjoy. We have four to six former caterers [including Roberts] volunteering. It’s designer food.

“Last night we had a salad of mixed greens and champagne-mustard vinaigrette, chicken, artisanal breads, fruits, and ice cream. Last week we had flank steak with asparagus and broccoli, penne pasta, and tomato cheddar soup.”

SUPPER is open to anyone in the community, not just those with food insecurity, and one of the goals of the meal is community building. Sometimes, they find, parents just like the break from cooking once in a while. They have a playground behind the parish hall and that has helped attract families as well, turning each dinner into a family event. They don’t even use paper plates.

What this ministry has also provided is a community for the volunteer crew that helps with SUPPER. “We have an amazing group of volunteers, between 20 and 25 people,” said Roberts, “and there’s a consistent core here each week. We knew it’d be fun, and one of our crew members calls it “kitchen ballet” because you’ve got four pans of lasagna, chicken on the grill, roasted potatoes coming out of the pot, and people moving everywhere at once.”

Several of the volunteers go shopping a few days before, and then on the day of SUPPER, they all meet in the parish hall kitchen around 1pm to begin preparing the meal. There is energy and music in the church on Wednesdays, and it spills over into the dinner. The comments from diners have focused on the food and the energy of the volunteers and how it looks like they’re having fun.

They cook for an expected crowd of 100 to 125, and allow people to take home food if they wish. They try not to duplicate foods they’ve already served, always offer a vegetarian option, and try to be conscious of food allergies. Also because of the number of children that attend, they try to not get too exotic with their food choices.

The idea behind this ministry meshes perfectly with the Episcopalian faith, according to The Rev. Callie Swanlund, 29, who oversees the Sunday morning family service. “The Episcopal Church has long strived to enact Jesus’s discipleship. The basic tenets being feed the hungry, clothe the naked, love your enemies,” she said. “Going outside of our own walls is a part of our mission, expanding the idea of church to not just be Sunday mornings. Coming around the communion table is one way we share a meal each week, but through this supper it’s another form of sacrament to us. It’s a chance to eat with your neighbors.”

However, the church and volunteers were conscious of keeping SUPPER non-denominational and non-religious. They decided against including prayer because they didn’t want someone to show up and feel excluded or uncomfortable. They want to reach out to the community at large. They have had people come from Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy, Germantown, and even as far away as the Main Line.

At first most of the attendees were from St. Martin’s, but that percentage has been shrinking. “Each time the community base is building with these suppers,” said Rev. Swanlund. “Last night I didn’t know about 25% of the people there. It’s a good thing. The fewer people I know, the better. We want St. Martin’s people here, too, but I see people getting the idea that this is truly a community supper, as opposed to churches who use the word community and mean our insular church community.”

Roberts recalls one email she received about SUPPER from a single mother in Mt. Airy asking if it was really free. After Roberts wrote back that it was, the mother wrote back how she has more bills than resources at the end of the month, and can’t let her daughter brings friends over for dinner. The end of the reply had a postscript asking if it was a problem that she was Jewish. “All are welcome,” Roberts said. The mother has been a regular at SUPPER ever since.

For more information about SUPPER or to donate your time or supplies, please contact Debra Roberts at debradroberts@comcast.net.