Orrville Mennonite Church offers Monday meals, more
Volunteers at Orrville Mennonite Church prepare the meals offered every Monday from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the church, 1305 W. Market St., Orrville.
Sometimes a meal is more than just a meal. That’s the case with Monday night meals at Orrville Mennonite Church, which offers a drive-thru and pickup for nutritious meals every Monday from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the church, 1305 W. Market St., Orrville.
But what is served up in addition to the food is a sense of community and care and concern for others.
According to Beverly Squirrel, a church member who is affectionately known as “the parking lot queen” of the Monday night program due to her work ministering to people as they receive their meals, the meals program began early on during the COVID pandemic.
“The church, in response to the pandemic, was seeking a way to be a blessing to the community during a hard time,” Squirrel said. “Food was chosen as a response because we as a church already had an established small food pantry, we had a convenient location in town, we had a pastor who loved to cook, we had a kitchen with nothing else going on and we saw reports that food insecurity issues may be coming as a result of the pandemic. At that point we decided a meal might be helpful.”
The church served its first meal on March 23, 2020, and it is still going strong.
Serving a meal for the last almost five years is a help to the community and a mission for the church, but in providing those meals, a community formed around the program, welcoming individuals who wanted to help but who were not members of the church. Many of these individuals have become leaders of the program.
“This program has become a ministry of the community and not just the church, and I think that’s where God is moving,” said Bill Seymour, pastor of the church. “Because of this program, we have relationships with so many more people in our community than we did before, and they enliven this ministry with a variety of leaders and volunteers.”
One individual who has become a leader with the program is a woman who had lost her job during the pandemic. One day she stopped for the first time for a meal, and then she volunteered.
“That same woman has now become a co-leader of this ministry. Probably no one knows the process of the meals more than she does,” Seymour said. “And there are many stories of other individuals just like her, who originally came for the food but who stayed to make a difference.”
Not only have other people in the community stepped up to help out, but other churches have helped out including Oak Grove, Martin’s and Wooster Mennonite churches.
In addition to the meals program, the church has a community garden it started several years ago. Land that the church purchased behind its property is subdivided into smaller plots, which are then allotted to families or individuals to use for gardening space in the summer. The idea of the garden correlates to the church’s mission of food as a means of caring for the community.
Through its meal program, the church has served thousands of meals. Last week alone, it served 122 meals. The program is currently seeking volunteer groups to partner with to help serve meals on Monday, when the normal crew needs a week off occasionally. If interested in more information about either the meals or the garden program or in partnering with the church to provide meals on Mondays, reach out to the church at 330-682-5801, its website at orrvillemenno.net or on Facebook @Orrville Mennonite Church. The weekly menu for Monday meals can be found on the Facebook page.