Food for those who feed

Volunteers at Lighthouse Church rejoice for a gift meal for them.

By Phil Haslanger
Collaboration Project Story Team

Lynne Chase had heard about efforts Lighthouse Church was making to care for those affected by our pandemic and was on her way with some donations gathered by her own congregation, Christ Church Madison. 

As she was driving over there a few weeks ago, she wound up listening to Jon Anderson from the Collaboration Project interviewing Lighthouse Church Pastor Marcio Sierra, Jr. and Mt. Zion Baptist Pastor Marcus Allen about their newly-formed Psalm 46 Relief Fund. She said she just started to “get tingly” at the vision they were laying out. (You can read an update on the Psalm 46 Relief Fund here.)

Lynne Chase

When she dropped off the donation, the volunteers were working on food. “They were so gracious,” Chase said. “I had a chance to chat with them. I was so impressed - not just their diligence in doing this but their cheerful attitude. They were putting themselves in some level of vulnerability in terms of exposing themselves when they certainly didn’t have to.”

Every Friday, Lighthouse Church and Lighthouse Christian School Madison give out about 150+ free hot lunches and 100 boxes of food. 

An idea took root. Working with Christ Church Madison Pastor Scott Cunningham and ministry director Kaitlyn Wallett, they began pondering ways to show appreciation for those volunteers preparing meals at Lighthouse Church. How about feeding those who feed? 

Chase contacted Anderson from Collaboration Project and Blue Plate Catering. Her congregation provided the funds, Blue Plate Catering delivered the food and on May 1, there were treats for the crew.

Sierra gave them a big shout out on Facebook “for blessing the team of volunteers at Lighthouse Church with a delicious meal today…THANK YOU for blessing us and being an awesome community; how encouraging. I love how the community is coming together in this difficult time. PRAISE JESUS!!!!”

But that was neither the beginning nor the end of the story.

Christ Church Madison is a relatively new congregation in the city. It is rooted in the Anglican tradition. When the Episcopal Church in the U.S. split about a decade ago, the Anglican Church in North America became the home for those seeking a link to more traditional Anglican beliefs.

The congregation of about 150 people had been meeting in the gym at Edgewood High School until safer-at-home became the order of the day. Edgewood stopped charging them rent since they were not using the gym, so the church looked at ways it might use those funds to serve the community. Some volunteers were helping to pack food at Second Harvest, but they still wanted to make a financial contribution where it could make a difference. They learned about the work at Lighthouse and that’s what led Chase to head that way.

Once the connection was made, the collaboration began to deepen. Chase learned that Lighthouse Church could use volunteers to help deliver meals to those who could not come to the church to get them. So she set up a data base of Christ Church Madison members who lived in the general area of southwest Madison and they signed up to help deliver meals. 

Chase saw this as opening new connections, saying, “This is going to create a good thing that didn’t exist before within our church community and Dane County.”

Sharing these stories is possible thanks to our amazing donors. We invite you to partner with Collaboration Project to help us tell stories that highlight how God is working in and through the local church.