Church serves thousands over holiday weekend

Church serves thousands over holiday weekend

By Karah Wilson

karah@southerntorch.com

SCOTTSBORO, Ala.— Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Randall’s Chapel United Methodist Church served over 1,200 people during their 10th annual Thanksgiving dinner. The church served so many people that they ran out of one traditional Thanksgiving food: turkey.

Randall's Chapel United Methodist Church
Randall's Chapel United Methodist Church serves thousands over Thanksgiving weekend

“Next year we are thinking about allowing servers to serve for 1 hour instead of 30 minutes,” volunteer coordinator Karen Stenson said. Many memories can be made during this wonderful time. “The lively chatter going on at the tables let you know some good memories were being made,” Stenson said.

Randall's Chapel United Methodist Church
Randall's Chapel United Methodist Church serves thousands over Thanksgiving weekend

College student and church member Amber Stafford has been volunteering at the meal for five years. Stafford said that, “meeting new people and being able to share a blessing with them,” is her favorite part of the meal. “Being able to pray over someone and hearing so many stories is an inspiration to me,” Stafford said. Stafford also plans to attend the meal even after she graduates from college. “The most fascinating part is knowing that, at the end of the day, you made someone’s life a little better. It’s also incredible we are able to feed over 1,000 people,” Stafford said.

This is not only Pastor Pat Mahan’s first Thanksgiving meal at Randall’s Chapel, but it is also his first year pastoring for Randalls Chapel. “Did the Thanksgiving Meal meet my expectations? Big time,” Pastor Mahan said. “I witnessed volunteers getting blessed as they were being a blessing to our guest. Then I got to see & hear from our guest what a blessing the meal was to them. As the pastor of Randall’s Chapel UMC, it blew me away seeing how our church folks worked so well together during the preparation and the event. I loved how we were open to involving the community to also serve as volunteers. I hope all who served and who were our guest experienced the grace and heart of our God. It was a great Thanksgiving.”

As the 2015 Thanksgiving ends, the church will be praying over the next Thanksgiving. The meal is a blessing to all of those who are involved in even the smallest way. Volunteers from the Salvation Army were there helping prepare for the meal the day of, along with those who attend, and some who don’t attend, the church. It was a successful Thanksgiving for the members of the church and the community as a whole.