As we BUILD more room for God in our lives and our church, we are reminded of the ways He moves despite of personal limitations or physical space constraints.
Leading up to Christmas, we are celebrating what God is doing in various Compassionate Ministry programs. If you have missed any, visit buildmoreroom.ca/updates. This week we continue to share how God uses Compassionate Ministry, which provides food as a doorway to deeper love and community for marginalized people seeking hope and help.
Part 3 –BUILDing more room at the table
God planted another dream in the hearts of Compassionate Ministry leaders…the Monthly Community Meal.
“Our Biblical approach and call for this monthly meal is taken from John 6, where Jesus feeds a crowd of over 5000 by multiplying five loaves and two fish,” says Pastor Steve Griffin. “Just like in John 6, we are asking God to help us spiritually and physically meet the needs of people we are welcoming to His table, and to pray more than we have thought was even possible.”
Launched in May 2018, the first Community Meal served a hot chili meal to over 100 people from the community through the leadership of Compassionate Ministry volunteers in partnership with the CSC café ministry. The monthly tradition has continued successfully ever since.
“Ninety-eight per cent of the people attending were people we had not seen before and this was their first time into the West Campus building,” said Pastor Steve’s wife, Colette Griffin, who heads the organization committee. “We added about 20 new volunteers to our team to help do final preparation, to serve and to minister to the poor. Through this ministry we carry out a Biblical mandate to bring excluded people to the table.
Collete points to the story in Matthew 22 in which a King prepares a wedding banquet for his son and his invited guests refuse to come.
“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find…and the wedding hall was filled with guests.’”
- Matthew 22
“The least desirables of our society will have a place at His banqueting table and much to their surprise and beyond their own wildest expectations, they become the chosen ones of the kingdom – the ones who will inherit it all!” added Pastor Steve. “It is under this banner, that we invite people to the table in hopes of building friendship and introducing them to the Jesus who will show them a ‘table’ beyond their wildest dreams!”
Why BUILD more room for Compassionate Ministry?
Our vision at Centre Street Church is for people to walk through a doorway where they will not only be fed for an evening, but for life. We want to see people find resources, community and deeper meaning in the name of Jesus.
To accommodate growing crowds with diverse needs, we need to BUILD more spaces that are designed with a missional purpose. God is moving through Compassionate Ministry. To support this and other amazing CSC ministries facing physical space constraints, please visit www.buildmoreroom.ca.