3 minute read
Coffee and Rolls Ministry Offers Sweet Servings of Fellowship
The pandemic may have slowed things down a bit, but our Coffee and Rolls Ministry is going strong at our Blessed Sacrament Jubilee Center, with sweet treats, hot coffee, or juice being offered, along with a generous serving of hospitality after the 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Sunday Masses.
“Coffee and Rolls, in my opinion, is just an opportunity for fellowship within our church community,” says Pam Van Heufeln, a longtime ministry member. “It has always been one of my favorite things about Sunday morning Mass. My Dad, Tom Rainforth, who passed away last year, would always sit with roughly the same group after 8 o’clock Mass and ‘solve the problems of the world’. It was a time we both enjoyed very much.”
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Pam cherishes the fact that she gets to meet parishioners she wouldn’t otherwise meet in other venues, and she enjoys visiting with neighbors.
“I enjoy seeing people sitting and relaxing and taking time to just visit and talk about anything that comes to mind,” she says. “Coffee and Rolls provides that setting.”
Although attendance has dropped in several areas because of COVID-19 restrictions and concerns, Pam is hopeful numbers will return.
“It brings more of fellowship back to going to Mass,” she says. “Mass is about community and praying as a community, and then connecting afterward at Coffee and Rolls — it’s kind of a double-down when it comes to God’s Kingdom.”
The procedure to set up each Sunday is an easy one, thanks to the well-stocked kitchen in the Jubilee Center. The ministry members hosting the early Mass time pick up the donuts or rolls for both servings. They prepare the coffee — Pam sets out two or three pots of regular and one of decaf — and pour several glasses of juice and water. Donuts or sweet rolls, plates, napkins, cream, and sugar are all lined up on the serving counters behind the kitchen windows that are opened as everyone arrives. Tables are already set up in the center.
Individuals and families take turns serving throughout the year. Our Knights of Columbus regularly take one Sunday each month. Ministry members typically serve after their chosen Mass. If there is a special event scheduled for a particular Sunday, for example, Confirmation, the coffee and rolls will not be served.
Serving in the Coffee and Rolls Ministry is an ideal way to enter into stewardship.
“It’s a fun, easy way if you haven’t participated in a lot of stewardship with your parish,” Pam says. “This is a good way, kind of a ‘starter’ position, to become active. I have taught CCD for 13 to 14 years, and that can be an intimidating way to start living in stewardship. But the Coffee and Rolls Ministry is pretty straightforward and simple. The whole purpose is to welcome people. It’s a perfect way to start stewardship within their parish.”
