The entire community is invited to a no-cost Community meal on Thursday, October 20 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church & School. The menu consists of spaghetti, meatballs, salad and dessert. The K-9 Comfort Dogs from Lutheran Church Charities will be at meal to greet guests starting at 5:30 p.m.
Wondering what this meal is all about and why Immanuel Lutheran is doing this? “Good questions,” says Rev. Warren Schilf, associate pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church and School. “At Immanuel, we recognize the importance of developing a sense of community among all people in our area,” says Pastor Schilf. “With our fast paced, social media driven, ‘on-the-go’ society, many people don’t have an opportunity to pause and have a nice meal prepared for them. Conversely, there are many folks in our community who desire to make new connections to people, since they might live alone and might not have either the means or opportunities to meet other neighbors. It’s a great inter-generational event, and we welcome anyone to come and enjoy a good meal. We simply want to love our neighbor by providing a safe place to enjoy a fine meal, fine conversation, and fun.”
The Community Meal was founded in Barrington by Mary Sandners, a Barrington High school graduate.
Pastor Schilf was introduced to Mary and The Community Meal group by Immanuel’s new youth pastor, Rev. Donald Antor, who worked with Mary at the Barrington Jewel during their high school years. It was there that she developed close friendships with her co-workers and had meaningful conversations with customers, about their successes and their struggles. Mary began to realize she had neighbors, friends, and families in need – right here in Barrington. She desired to bring the residents of Barrington together to not only share a meal, but also share real experiences, real conversations, and real problems. After college, Mary became a council board chair at Lutheran Church of the Atonement. Mary attended a council retreat and a “community meal” idea came to light. With the support of BAMA and Lutheran Church of the Atonement, The Community Meal was born.
Mary then invited both pastors to come and see The Community Meal in action at one of their locations this past summer. It took no time at all for the pastors to not only see the benefit this would have to the Palatine community, but also experienced first-hand feeling welcomed by those they enjoyed their meal with at the table. “We enjoyed a great spirit of openness and friendliness with all whom we met at The Community Meal,” said Pastor Schilf.
Now Schilf is the one asking the questions, “So won’t you consider joining Immanuel’s first Community Meal on Thursday, October 20th from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Palatine?” Immanuel Lutheran Church & School is located at 200 North Plum Grove Road (at Wood Street) in downtown Palatine, just two blocks east of the Palatine Metra Train Station. For more information, please call the church office at 847-359-1549.