Reflections on Community and the Feast of St. John

On Saturday, June 30, our parish marked the Feast of St. John with a celebration at Hubba Hubba Smokehouse. Aside from delicious food, we had an amazing performance from the band, Chatham Rabbits, and a special time getting to share in each other’s company. This is an annual event, but this year was especially exciting due to the event also being a fundraiser for a local outreach organization, the Community Food Pantry in Edneyville. 

The Community Food Pantry began in September of 2018 as a joint project between the Fruitland United Methodist Church of Hendersonville and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Edneyville. Originally, they began with the goal to serve at best 35 families by providing them with enough food to get through the week. Now, in 2024, they have long surpassed that goal of 35 families, and have registered thousands of local families to receive their services. In the face of setbacks like the COVID-19 pandemic, the Community Food Pantry was able to effectively adjust practices to ensure safety while still providing their full services to the community. This is an organization that is truly living out their calling by supporting and serving the needs of our neighbors.

Our parish of St. John in the Wilderness has a close relationship with the Community Food Pantry, and the outpouring of support that our parish showed during the Feast of St. John was a testament to how our church community is guided by our mission of serving the world in God’s name. The original goal set for donations for the Community Food Pantry was $2,000, an amount which would be matched by St. John in the Wilderness and Chatham Rabbits, ultimately raising $4,000. Thanks to our parish’s support and commitment to outreach, we almost met the $4,000 goal just with donations from event attendees alone. In total, the Community Food Pantry received $5,874.83 from this event.

I was especially inspired by the success of the Feast of St. John, and how our parish genuinely cares about uplifting our neighbors. The immediate impact of the Feast of St. John could be seen in the appreciation shown by employees and volunteers from the Community Food Pantry who were in attendance. Our service touched their lives, and will go on to touch the lives of the families who they serve, as well as allowing us to demonstrate God’s love to them. I could not be prouder to share in our church community!