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Everyone is Invited

For five years now, on almost every Wednesday evening, the First Christian Church at the corner of Cedar and Sixth Streets has been serving a hot meal to anyone who comes.
"We do it for the community," said church elder Jerry Kinser. "Everyone is invited."
The 'Wednesday Suppers' Ministry was launched in November of 2014.
"We saw a need," said the church's Resource Director, Camey Thurner, who has spearheaded the charitable program since its inception. "We wanted to be able to provide a free hot meal once a week to anyone who comes."
The meals are served every Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., except on holidays or when USD 333 is not in session during the school year.  The meals are provided on Wednesdays throughout the summer, as well.
The First Christian Church receives some food donations from F & A Food Sales and Rod's Thriftway, but the church pays for everything else. They even remodeled their kitchen in the fellowship hall to accommodate the large turnout.
On any given Wednesday evening the church will serve between 100-150 meals, and they never charge for a meal.
"There's not even a free-will donation at the door," Thurner said. "Nobody has to pay for a meal. No one is ever asked for a donation. We want people to come and be with their friends, enjoy a good meal and socialize."
"It doesn't matter who you are," said Kinser. "We will take you in."
A loyal and dedicated staff of volunteers help prepare the meals and serve them to the guests.
"We always have at least 20 volunteers who help get things ready for Wednesday night," Thurner said. "We all have the same belief: we feed people because we love them."
Thurner and her dedicated volunteers see no end to the 'Wednesday Suppers' Ministry.
"We're going to keep doing this for a long as God sees the need," she said.

 

Concordia Blade-Empire

510 Washington St.
Concordia, KS 66901