The parson had buttoned himself up in
his home study, determined to complete some reading he'd had on his
desk for weeks. He sat on the edge of his recliner reading a mystery novel as he listened to the rhythm of the eclectic
variety of music played by Cleveland Carlson on WUTC, Chattanooga's
NPR station, and the parson's favorite DJ.
His selected reading was light; the music was perfect; the day was perfect. And then the phone rang.
“Hello.”
“Parson, this is Lenny Reinhardt.”
“Lenny, how are you?” replied the parson. Lenny was the pastor of a nearby small church for which the parson had been pastor three decades ago. The little church was centrally located to a ministry the parson, his wife, and a couple colleague and his wife were considering. The idea was for the group to begin a soup kitchen one night a week where anyone who was hungry could get a meal. They had decided not to officially involve their respective church but just do it on their own. The parson had called Lenny about using the small church's kitchen and fellowship hall to get the project going. Lenny said he would bring it up at the church's board meeting.
“I'm fine, Parson. I called you to let you know about the board meeting we had last night. I talked to them about the soup kitchen.”
“Great, Lenny, I really appreciate you talking to them.”
“Well, Parson, there's a problem.”
“Oh, what's the problem?” asked the parson.
“I wasn't even aware of this, but
when we added those two rooms on the back of the fellowship hall they
had to have an inspection by the county. Well, it seems we can't cook
in the kitchen unless we install a hood over the stove. And we can't
afford the hood.”
The parson quickly ran the various members of the church through is mind and calling up impressions born decades ago. “Why can't you afford the hood, Lenny. It shouldn't cost that much.”
“The price they got on it was $1200. And the church just can't afford that much money right now.”
The parson thought a moment. He calculated the needs of the community against his available resources. It would be tight, but …
“That's no problem, Lenny. I'll pay for it.”
“You'll pay for what?”
“I'll pay for the hood over the stove and the installation. It's not problem at all.”
Lenny began to stutter in his talk, “I ah, well, I ah, ah, well Parson, you shouldn't be shelling out that kind of money.”
“You're right about that, Lenny,” said the parson, “your members should be shelling out the money joyfully, but seeing as how things are the way they are, I'll be glad to foot the bill. I tell you what, I'll have Kenneth Pelot get in touch with you tomorrow. He can drop by and take some measurements and the fabricate the hood and install it.”
“Parson, I don't think that's a good idea.”
“Why not, Lenny?”
“Well, Parson, I'm not sure the people want you to put the hood in.”
“Gracious, Lenny, why not. With the hood in we can have the soup kitchen and you folks can have a functional kitchen that you can actually utilize again.”
“But Parson, $1200 could be used to feed so many people.”
“That's right, Lenny, but if we spend $1200 to put in a hood at your church which is so centrally located in the town, think about how many people will be able to get there. I mean, most of the homeless folks could walk to your church. It will be money well spent.”
“Ah, Parson,” said Lenny, “It's not that simple.”
The parson was fairly sure he had recognized the source of the tension in Lenny's voice. “I don't know what could be more simple, Lenny. Is there something you're not sharing?”
There was a long pause. And then Lenny replied, “Look, let me just come out with it. Needing a hood is prohibits us from cooking in the kitchen, but putting in a hood won't help, Parson. The truth is there were several folks on the board who said they just were not comfortable having the kind of people who would come to a soup kitchen hanging out in the church.
The parson said nothing.
“Parson, you there?”
“I'm here, Lenny.”
“Are you mad?”
“No, Lenny, I'm not mad.”
“Oh, good,” said Lenny, “Look, Parson, I did the best I could."
"I know you did, Lenny. I appreciate it. Thanks anyway."
The parson and Lenny said their goodbyes. The parson sat back and thought a moment and made a resolution to pray for Lenny's ministry.
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Several years ago our youth group had a soup supper as a fundraiser. A man wandered in and asked for a meal, he did not have enough money for a ticket. Our assistant pastor was so rude to this man, people around took notice. He asked if he could just stay a few minutes to warm up, she told him no. I walked over and handed him my ticket. (and oh did I get the evil eye from Ms Assistant Pastor). He refused, but I insisted. I even told him we could fix his meal to go if he wanted, but it would take me a while to get it ready. He agreed. I filled a take out bowl with Chicken Noodle soup, another with chili. I stuffed his syrofoam container with several sandwiches and another woman filled another container with an assortment of bars and cookies. We tucked a couple cartons on milk into his goodie bag, and filled a large cup with steaming coffee for his walk home. He got warm while we packaged his supper (and enough for a new more meals) and I was warm inside for a long time.
Posted by: Linda | January 29, 2009 at 12:00 PM