This new year, my sister, Karen Murphy Ireland, and I headed to the Central United Methodist Church in Concord, NC to present a WWJE? (What Would Jesus Eat?) program. To be more authentic, Pastor Andy had requested no utensils. In the time of Christ, the right hand was used to eat and a piece of bread was the scooper. As Pastor Andy had a conference that evening, the church team decided to have knives and forks available for those who preferred to use them.
Instead of baptismal basins for hand cleaning, Andy left us with a huge clam shell that he claimed to have discovered on a beach. We filled it with warm water as well as little bowls on each table. To add a little humor, we informed the guests that Pastor Susanna would also come around to all the tables and wash their feet. There was a audible groan when we asked everyone to remove their shoes, socks or stockings--and a sign of relief to “Just kidding.”
Another poke was to reveal some of the Jesus paraphernalia in Pastor Andy’s collection of trinkets and memorabilia. There was a talking Jesus, an “illuminated” Jesus, a bobble-head Jesus, a Jesus key ring and “Last Supper” after dinner mints. You never really know WHO is in the pulpit!
We had a huge commercial kitchen in which to prepare our food, and an excellent team of volunteers who gathered magnolia leaves for the tables. The leaves were a new shade of “winter brown” as they had been “washed” in the dishwasher.
Not only was everything set up when we arrived, but we finished our preparations ahead of schedule.
Most everyone seemed to enjoy the healthy food with nothing fried and all were good sports. Next time; no mixed salad with dressing, but large pieces of lettuce and veggies to be dipped and then “no utensils!”
