By Jennifer Mains
Published December 2006
This talk was given by Jennifer Mains, coordinator of St. John’s Kitchen, to the congregation of St. John’s Anglican Church on Sunday, June 25th, celebrating over 20 years of serving meals at St. John’s Kitchen. This special mass was followed by a walk from St. John’s Church to the new St. John’s Kitchen at 97 Victoria.
I would like to spend a few moments to celebrate and reflect on the relationship between the congregation of St. John the Evangelist and the community of St. John’s Kitchen.
In our secular society we place great emphasis on defining ourselves in terms of roles. We are mothers, fathers, labourers and plumbers, to name a few. A great many hours are spent defining these roles and measuring their effectiveness. In the workplace, binders are brimming with job descriptions, protocols, and evaluations. But in the midst of this flurry of words we often miss those roles that truly define us.
I am not sure that the congregation of St. John the Evangelist realizes the role they play in the broader community. Your church is considered “radical” – in the best sense of the word meaning from the root- the root being the gospels.
I hear this comment when I speak with other church or community groups. They say they do not know if they can take the risk to be radical. Your congregation has taken the risk- to invite into your building 300 people a day so that they can be fed. You are considered exemplary for you have taken to heart the words of the gospels- and the gospel vision is not an easy one.
As Christians we are called to create Christ’s vision of the kingdom. The hungry must be fed, enemies loved. This may sound simple but we all know that it takes great risk. We must invite strangers into our midst, people whose lives differ vastly from ours. This can cause fear, and aggravation for it can disrupt our lives. This vision of Christ’s, this vision of a new kingdom is a challenging one but as a congregation, you acknowledged its importance in your church life, you struggled with it, and for 21 years provided a place to feed the hungry and supported this work in many fruitful ways.
I would like to refer to one of my favourite Psalms, Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
This is, of course, an old Testament precursor to Christ’s concept of the kingdom on earth. I chose this passage because it best reflects one of the most poignant teachings I learned at the Kitchen. This passage reflects the belief of many people in the community of the kitchen. They believe that because you are Christians you are a group of people who hold to a set of beliefs that reflect a vision of a better world- a world where we see the goodness of God in our lives. They believe that you will protect them, that because you believe in Christ’s teachings you will honour the poor, bless the most wretched, give dignity to the most downtrodden, that you will work to uphold this vision.
I remember when the Eaton’s building behind the church was being renovated. There were rumours that the owner of the building was petitioning the mayor to have St. John’s Kitchen moved – we didn’t fit the new image. One man came to me, actually several spoke to me about the rumour- but this man’s comments stood out. He said, “the church would never allow them to kick us out.” This man’s belief is not naïve – it is simply – a sincere hope that there is goodness beyond the brokenness of our governments, our agencies and our own lives.
I love to quote Jean Vanier because he speaks so eloquently about the human condition. He says, “We are all fundamentally the same. We all belong to a common broken humanity. We all have wounded and broken hearts.”
On behalf of the community of St. John’s Kitchen- we thank you for the many years of generosity and hospitality you have shown us and we hope to continue, in new ways, in this relationship of risk that exemplifies Christ’s vision of the Kingdom on earth.
To close, I would like to quote again from Psalm 27: “The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear.”
