One of the best investments we have made is to buy a barbeque. The bigger, the better. If you can swing it, buy an industrial strength barbeque; preferably one on a trailer so you can haul it around with a car or truck.
Buying a large barbeque did several things for St. Luke’s;
1) People who were comfortable with a barbeque stepped forward to cook, expanding our kitchen crew.
2) Because we can cook meat outside, we were able to serve more people without enlarging the kitchen.
3) The sight and smells of a barbeque at the church were a positive image for people who saw the church having fun and enjoying the experience.
Last Sunday we had a hamburger barbeque after the 10:00 service. We had hamburgers, beans, salad and a huge sheetcake in honor of a parishioner who was celebrating her 90th birthday. It brought people from the early and later services together. We didn’t charge for the barbeque, instead we set out a basket and used it as a fundraiser for Haitian Earthquake Relief. We encourage people to invite family and friends and it becomes an outreach. People who often eat alone sat down with their church family for a big party.
We fed over a hundred people and raised over $1,500 for the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund.
Everybody wins!
We often have these Sunday barbeques. People love the chance to get together, to share in the cooking and the combination of inreach and outreach is wonderful.
Our next barbeque is a sockhop with a live band. 50′s and 60′s music. The Vestry is acting as the “Senior Prom Committee”. It is on a Thursday night because when you’re retired a Thusday is as good at a Friday or Saturday. We’ll start at 5:00 and probably be done by 8:30. The band loves it because they get to go home early, Thursday nights are not in high demand, and they’re playing to an audience that loves their music.
Like I said, the barbeque is one of the best investments we ever made.
