“Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” (Matthew 25:44b-45)
Mississippi has, for a number of years, had the unenviable distinction of being home to one of the nation’s highest poverty rates: From a peak of 24% of our citizens living below the poverty line in 2012, the percentage of persons living below poverty has dropped to about 18% in 2023, but that is compared to a national average of about 11%. No matter the cause to which we point or the source upon which we place blame, the fact remains that too many of our people are hungry, without shelter, without healthcare, without basic necessities – without hope. And while many solutions will need to be employed to lift us, basic needs must be addressed while longer-term solutions can be imagined and implemented.
The Episcopal Church in Mississippi is actively working to feed the hungry. We’ve previously highlighted a few ministries in this space that have been committed to sharing food with our neighbors. Here, we focus on just a few more ways in which our churches have responded to hungry neighbors around us.
Saints Brew – All Saints’ Church, Tupelo
On a sunny, warm Tuesday morning in October, guests entered All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Tupelo, as they do every weekday morning – streaming in to be greeted by the morning’s hosts and treated to a hot breakfast and warm hospitality. On that particular morning, chicken and waffles were on the menu.
Saints Brew has been serving neighbors in Tupelo since 2010. The Rev. Gene Asbury, a former All Saints’ rector, had a passion for supporting and caring for hungry neighbors and giving them a place to come inside from the elements; from his vision, Saints Brew was born. Since that start in 2010, Saints Brew has served up over 285,000 meals, and its original mission has expanded to include providing basic hygiene products and some emergency clothing items.
On any given weekday morning, 85 to 100 guests arrive for breakfast; on some mornings, there are more guests – particularly near the end of a month, when a guest’s resources may have run dry. “Regulars” often visit Monday through Friday – and team members who serve daily know these guests by name and by their stories. The ministry is about relationships, and the serving teams are well-acquainted with guests who have health issues or other particular needs. Often, the serving team members will help guests access care at the Tree of Life Clinic, a no-cost clinic which provides healthcare and dental services.
From what began as a simple meal of pastries, fruit and coffee has evolved a full breakfast menu, with offerings ranging from cereal and fruit to that morning’s chicken and waffles, the chicken having been given by a fast-food restaurant which also helps support the ministry. And while a rector and parishioners started the ministry, it now has support from throughout Tupelo: The local United Way, nursing students from Itawamba Community College, physicians, veterinarians and other supporters have gathered to serve on teams showing hospitality to neighbors who need a hot meal and often a kind word or hug.
Cindy Hudnall, current Director of the Saints Brew ministry, shares a story of a guest she calls the “KoolAid” guest, who, after falling one morning at Saints Brew breakfast, confessed that he had a drinking problem. Hudnall became an advocate for the guest, who continues to work toward sobriety and has been living a stable life on his own for the past two years. The “KoolAid” guest, Hudnall says, is grateful for the opportunity to give back, and is trying to help others.
The Saints Brew ministry is supported primarily through gifts and a community of committed servers. Hudnall suggests that worshipping communities wanting to find their own niche for serving their communities prayerfully study their neighbors’ needs and the ways in which they can faithfully respond.
IONA House, St. Columb’s Church, Ridgeland
Neighbors in the West Jackson area near the site of the former St. Columb’s Church have come to rely upon the generosity and hospitality of St. Columb’s communicants who return to the community every Friday morning to share grocery items with neighbors in need.
IONA (Isle of Outreach for Neighborhood Assistance) House began in 1986, as a way for St. Columb’s to share food in a neighborhood that was becoming increasingly impoverished. Even after the church relocated to Ridgeland, the ministry continued. Each week, one team of six or so persons helps on Thursdays with gathering, unloading, staging and bagging the food items, and a second team of about eight persons helps on Fridays with the logistics of sharing the bagged food items with neighbors.
Multiple community partners – including Mississippi Food Network, Kroger, Ben E. Keith Company Food Distributors, Good Samaritan Center, Extra Table and Stewpot – have shared food items which help IONA House provide groceries for up to 140 families weekly. IONA House also relies upon financial gifts that help sustain the ministry, through the purchase of additional food items and upkeep of the house.
IONA House Board Chair Cy Tandy is grateful to continue to steward a ministry with a rich history. “It’s a lot of fun, it’s a lot of work…”, Tandy says. “The true blessing is to be able to help those in need every Friday…to see their faces light up, to have conversations, to share a prayer…”
Burgers n Tunes, Trinity Church, Natchez
Trinity Church, Natchez, was looking for ways to make their ministries more welcoming and invite more neighbors to share the beautiful spaces with which they’re gifted. A lovely outdoor courtyard that was open, visible and blessed with great acoustics seemed to present a wonderful possibility. Trinity parishioner and Vestry member Adam Gwin, inspired by an idea that a former curate, the Rev. CJ Meaders, had employed at St. Columb’s Church, suggested that Trinity begin inviting local musicians to share their music as a way of extending Trinity’s ministry out into the community.
Local musician and promoter Gabe Bass was invited to help identify musicians for the events. Parishioner and Vestry member Bruce Scarborough guessed that food would be a wonderful accompaniment to great music, and offered to grill burgers for anyone who was hungry and wanted to eat. Burgers n Tunes was born – and became a great way not only to share a meal in community with hungry neighbors, but also to provide a venue for up-and-coming musicians to showcase their music.
Between the sounds of the tunes and the smell of freshly grilled burgers, parishioners hoped that neighbors would come to check them out. So far, Trinity has hosted five Burgers n Tunes gatherings, each drawing between 35 and 50 guests, Scarborough estimates. The Burgers n Tunes gatherings are open to the public; everyone is invited to eat, visit and enjoy the great music. Trinity has welcomed and fed a variety of neighbors, from curious passersby, to unsheltered folks in need of a meal and community, to a group of German tourists, proving, said Scarborough, that “people come from all over the world to visit us!”
Biscuit Brigade, St. Peter’s-by-the-Sea, Gulfport
On Saturday mornings at St. Peter’s-by-the-Sea, homemade biscuits are “what’s for breakfast,” as teams from the church prepare to feed 50-60 persons who need a hot meal. The Biscuit Brigade prepares a bagged breakfast for neighbors that includes two hot sausage biscuits, a fruit cup, fruit bar, jellies, juice and water. The breakfasts are delivered to the site of the Feed My Sheep ministry in Gulfport – a collaborative that was named one of America’s 1,000 Points of Light by the late President George H.W. Bush. Feed My Sheep provides lunches for in-person dining and for shut-ins from its kitchen. The Biscuit Brigade sweeps in to provide the Saturday breakfasts, and shares prayer and conversation along with the hot meals.
St. Peter’s-by-the-Sea parishioner Jan Shook leads the Brigade, which has been serving up the breakfasts for about 11 years. On occasion, the Brigade is called into service to help support the local Salvation Army Cold Weather Shelter. And, once each year, the Brigade prepares about 200 of the breakfasts as Gulf Coast Community Mission hosts Operation Homeless Hope, to help provide support to persons experiencing homelessness.
The Biscuit Brigade brings together teams representing all faiths and beliefs for the work of feeding Gulfport’s neighbors. “We have so much to be thankful for each day… To be a part of the Biscuit Brigade, providing for those that have so little is an honor.”
Stewpot Community Services, Jackson
In 1981, seven Jackson faith communities – including St. Andrew’s Cathedral – teamed up to begin serving a weekday no-cost, no-questions lunch to neighbors who were hungry. The “Community Stewpot,” modeled after a similar ministry in Dallas, was born.
Fast forward more than 40 years, and what is now Stewpot Community Services – now occupying the former Central Presbyterian Church site – offers not only the weekday meal, but also an array of services to support Jackson’s most vulnerable citizens. The work of Stewpot has risen to national prominence – with the ministry becoming one of only 38 such programs to receive a $1.25 million grant from the national Bezos Day One Families Fund in 2023. That grant, according to Stewpot’s Executive Director, Rev. Jill Buckley, will help build stabilizing support for families who are experiencing homelessness.
Stewpot’s many ministries today include emergency shelters for men, women and children, housing assistance, a clothes closet, healthcare clinic, legal clinic, after-school care, and summer camp care for children. With Stewpot’s many ministry offerings, there are a variety of opportunities to serve.
The Episcopal Church has a long history and close relationship with Stewpot: Among Stewpot’s prior directors are three Episcopal clergy whose tenures with Stewpot span much of the ministry’s history – the Rev. Luther Ott, the Rev. Carol Stewart Spencer, and the Rev. Deacon Frank Spencer. The Rev. Molly MacWade, the first woman priest in the Diocese of Mississippi, is a board member. In a 2016 article from the Clarion Ledger, the Rev. Deacon Frank Spencer acknowledged his initial fear in traveling from his Madison County home to serve at Stewpot, but his fear was almost immediately replaced with a sense of true calling to inner-city ministry; he served as Executive Director of Stewpot for 13 years. Episcopal worshipping communities in Jackson – including St. Andrew’s Cathedral, St. Philip’s Church and Chapel of the Cross – still faithfully serve the ministry. Members of the Diocesan office staff also share in serving at Stewpot.