Monday night meal plan
My church offered college students weekly fellowship.
It turns out they needed the food, too.
When I began working as the chaplain at Lyon College, an Arkansas school affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), I was looking for ways that the local PCUSA congregation could support our students. As I was thinking about this, members of the church approached me. They wanted to set up a group for students centered on food, fellowship, and learning.
A common guideline in campus ministry says that if you feed them, they will come. Our eager leaders recruited families to serve meals, invited students to join us, and launched the Presbyterian Student Association, not knowing what to expect.
A couple of years later, Monday nights are a highlight of the week, not just for our students but for church members as well. One church member, Sarah Jones, loves to host the students in her home. From rushing around making sure there is enough soup for everyone, to finding a quiet corner to make more batches of guacamole during taco night, to laughing with students as they cuddle with Willy Wonka (the family beagle), she seeks to make them feel at home.
