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“Calling All Casseroles!”
Calling all casseroles! Calling all casseroles! You would expect this from a Methodist preacher. I'm serious about this. This is the time for a well-planned strategy to multiply the potluck or covered-dish dinners at the churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and tabernacles in America. Now is a time for people who never ate a casserole before to get busy and engage in one of the great social services that common folk have enjoyed for millennia--community meals! Now, before you dismiss me as just another hysterical prophet alarmed at the financial crisis exploding this week in our land, give me a chance to explain myself.
All things financial are at serious risk today. Banks and other financial institutions are in danger of collapse. This is a perilous time. Well, you know about all this turmoil in our national finances. All of these money troubles are trickling down to our family kitchens. And this brings fallout on our religious institutions too. Pastors and priests, rabbis and Imams are spending more time on their knees praying about this threat to the financial stability of religious institutions. We worry that our ministries are in jeopardy. Although we know that times of threat usually bring out the best in us and we pull together and grow stronger, still we are anxious and need to use our imaginations in our own behalf.
One thing we can do is pool our resources, help each other and our neighbors too. One way to help is to expand church casserole production! This is the predominant menu item for community meals in America. They come in a variety of types. Some are vegetarian, others are for carnivorous tastes. Some are filled with pasta and cheese and Italian sauces. Most are laced with mushroom soup and topped with crisp onions. Some are sweet and fruity--cobblers count too. They are tasty, filling and easy to make. It doesn't precisely say so in the Bible, but the Children of Israel ate manna casseroles every day while wandering 40 years in the wilderness--I'm sure of it. Think what would happen if every week every house of worship in America would have a “bring a casserole” dinner. Those who couldn't afford to bring a dish could come anyhow. Neighbors could be invited too! Think how much money could be saved families on their food bills each week--maybe $100 million per week! Or more!
I have known churches to finance the cost of building their facilities with offerings received at congregational suppers. Many churches raise huge amounts of money for their missions of mercy from weekly hotdog sales and autumn and spring barbeques. Think, then, how much a young family could be helped by just one community meal each week with their community of faith. The money they would save would add up quickly but the greater gain may be in increasing their friendships and supportive relationships with others.
A single family can do this too. Reverend Millie Orbison is a busy pastor in Kannapolis, NC, but with all else she has on her plate, she cooks dinner for her extended family every Thursday night. She and husband Jerry have lots of children and grandchildren. Usually around 30 show up each week. She has been doing this for 18 years! She says they mostly love to come to see each other--which is great. But I have eaten Millie's cooking and it is great too. I also see what a weekly meal like this can do to shape a wonderful family. The family table is almost a lost tradition in America. But when times get tough, it is the perfect time to recover that old practice of dipping into a green bean, comfort food casserole. Can you imagine what it would cost to feed 30 hungry mouths every week at a restaurant? I figure Millie and Jerry have saved their family a gazillion dollars over the past 18 years!
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