St. Paul’s Episcopal Church hosting Food for Thought series

ALBANY — After a successful first year in which almost $3,000 was raised to help the area’s less-fortunate, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is set to usher in the holy season with its second Wednesday Food for Thought series.

At noon starting this Wednesday and continuing each Wednesday through March 25, St. Paul’s will host “light, lenten lunches” with a brief message based on the last words of Christ. The series will lead into Palm Sunday March 29 and Easter April 5. The public is invited to attend and make a donation that will be used to help local nonprofits with their missions.

Albany’s three Episcopal churches — St. Paul’s, St. Patrick’s, and St. John’s & St. Mark’s — are participating in Food for Thought series.

“We were delighted with the reception Food for Thought got last year,” St. Paul’s rector, Father Lee Lowery, said. “We had between 60 to 80 attend every Wednesday, and a good portion of them were not members of St. Paul’s. I’ve seen other churches do similar programs, but we expanded it to include a message, a meal and an opportunity to help others in our community. St. Paul’s has a history of being involved in this community, and we are always looking for ways to expand that involvement.

“I’d like to stress that we are not shopping for parishioners with Food for Thought. There are so many people who work downtown, and this gives them the opportunity to have lunch and a period of meditation. Everything is brief, so they can be back to work by 1 o’clock.”

While the program accepts donations from participants, that is not one of the requirements.

“We have an ongoing Feed My Sheep program, so supplying food for the area hungry is a big part of our ministry,” Lowery said. “But Food for Thought is primarily about community involvement, about continuing our church’s legacy of helping. We had people come in for a meal last year who were unable to make a donation. That’s OK. There are no strings attached.”

A different group will provide lunch each week of the Food for Thought series, and each sermon will be brought by a different speaker, with proceeds going to various groups. On Wednesday, Daughters of the King will provide lunch, while Jay Weldon will offer a message based on Luke 23:34. Proceeds will benefit St. Patrick’s Dominican Republic mission.

On March 4, St. John’s & St. Mark’s will provide lunch, Joy Davis’s message will come from Luke 23:43, and proceeds will go to GraceWay Recovery Residence. Ri Lamb’s March 11 message from John 19:26 will benefit St. Claire’s Kitchen, which will provide lunch that day.

Jim Bullion will base his March 18 message on Mark 15:34, with food provided by the Cursillo Reunion Group and proceeds going to the St. John’s & St. Mark’s Cyber Cafe. Lowery will speak from John 19:30 on March 25 with St. Patrick’s providing lunch and funds collected going to St. Paul’s Clothing Room, which donates clothing and school supplies to students in the community.

Lowery said St. Paul’s will continued its Feed My Sheep third-Saturday program Saturday with donations of some 120 boxes of food that it will distribute to needy families. That, the rector said, is part of a plan to use $7,000 of the church’s budget this year to give $45,000 worth of food to the hungry in the area. Food will be purchased from the local food bank.