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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 2017)
10 community january19 2017 Church Invites Community to Breakfast people who could use it. I wanted to make sure that the job of cook- ing breakfast didn’t fall on the same people each week. And I wanted to make sure that the expense didn’t all fall on the church. I felt like if we accomplished two of those three goals we would be successful.” Brown says the church has seen several new people take ad- vantage of the gatherings. He also said that he has been able to fi nd new volunteers almost every week, including some folks who are not members of the Grace Family Fel- lowship congregation. The church is currently funding the entire program, al- though donations are accepted. The meal, which is served from Above: Mark Brown coordinates weekly breakfasts at 9:30 until 10:25 am usually in- Grace Family Fellowship. Below: Mason Hummel cludes eggs, a breakfast meat volunteered to help prepare breakfast on January 15. of either sausage or bacon, pancakes, juice, and cof- fee. Sometimes there are pastries or muffi ns if the church receives them in the free bread delivery that they usually make available to anyone in the community. “The important thing for me is that we’re providing an opportunity for someone who could re- ally benefi t from, and could really use, a hot meal,” said Brown. “It has also provid- ed the members of our con- gregation a chance to get together, because we’re all so busy and we don’t spend as much time together as a “The whole purpose was to fi nd congregation as we should. a niche that we wanted to fi ll in the com- It gives us a chance to sit down and break munity,” says church member Dan Mur- bread together.” “This is one way that we can phy. “We’ve seen it during the Summer show the community that we care, that Meals Program that we host here during we’re here, and that we want to help the summer. Unfortunately there are them,” says Grace Family Fellowship people out there who are hurting and Pastor Greg “Mac” McCallum. “When don’t have a lot. We’ve found that if you we talked to the congregation people can feed people, the church can be a safe really stepped up and owned the idea. place. We open the doors, they come People with chickens bring in their eggs and eat.” “I look at this as a type of minis- and other people donate food and money try, but not a ministry that includes pros- and time. I think it’s been successful, it’s meeting a need in the community and elytizing,” says Brown. He says that even if just one or two people show up we’re happy to do it.” Brown says the usual turn-out who are in need, then the effort is worth- has been about 40-50 people, depending while. “It’s always interesting to see that on weather. “It’s starting to grow and when you step out and do something, the we’re seeing more and more people each other benefi ts that are produced around it. It often gives validity to what you are week.” continued from front page doing and shows that there might be a need or purpose beyond what you started out to accomplish.” “It gives us a chance to visit with some friends over a meal,” says church member Rose Nelson. “It’s warm and hearty and I get comfort and friendship from being here. Sometimes people have precon- ceived ideas about what it takes to walk through the door of a church. The fact that we hold it in the gym- nasium and it’s a relaxed atmosphere helps. We all catch up with each and what’s been going on in our lives. I hope more people will come and give it a try.” Brown says he welcomes mem- bers from other churches volunteer- ing to cook, and is also open to the idea that other churches might step up and share the burden by hosting the meal at their church for a month at a time. “If another church called us up and said, ‘We’d like to do breakfast this month,’ that would be great,” says Brown. “I think it would be great for the community to see the leadership of one church in someone else’s house work- ing together, or working together on an outside ser- vice project. The end result is to meet a need and if that leads to something else that would be great.” Rebecca Nelson enjoying her pancakes and scrambled eggs. For Brown, his willingness to serve is really pretty simple. “If you have a heart for people, and you see a need, and you have the resources to do it, why wouldn’t you help?” he says. “You always feel good when you do some- thing for no purpose other than because it’s the right thing to do, there’s a per- sonal reward in that.” Grace Family Fellowship is located at 957 State Street. You can reach Mark Brown at (503) 989-8604. V ernonia C hristian C hurch Everyone is welcome in our vibrant & active community! Sunday Worship Service 11:00 am Pastor Sam Hough • Youth and Adult Sunday School • Evening Youth Groups 4th-6th Grade Junior & Senior High • Home Study Groups • Outdoor Ministry 410 North St. Vernonia Christian Bow Hunters of America Annual Sportsman’s Banquet office@VernoniaChristianChurch.org 503-429-6522 Marie Krahn Massage Therapy Auto injury recovery/medical billing • Accepting: Medical Benefits Cards • Medical Massage Cupping • Swedish Massage • Reiki • Deep Tissue • Reflexology • doTerra Aroma Touch • Trigger Point Therapy • Myofacial Release 503-429-5180 lic#5495 mariekrahn@frontier.com Big Burgers & Fries 9 Beers on Tap Growlers To Go 503.429.0214 Check us Out on Facebook Owned and Operated by Don & Kim Wallace DON WALLACE, PLS Professional Land Surveying 1224 E. Alder St. Vernonia, OR 97064 Phone: 503-429-6115 FAX: 1-866-297-1402 Email: DWallace_KLS@msn.com CORPORATE MEMBER