Make Lunch - making a difference

Jodie Thorpe, YBA Children, Youth & Families Enabler in conversation with Rose Austin.

Rose is the Church Secretary at Middleton Park Baptist Church and has a big heart to reach out to those in the community around their immediate location in Leeds.  I was keen to find out more about how ‘Make Lunch’ (an initiative now under the umbrella of TLG) has helped her and others at the church realise they can make a real difference amongst families in their locality.  I asked Rose some questions and would love to share her story of the journey which now means that families and children around the church realise they have a place where they will be welcomed, supported and nourished.

What is ‘Make Lunch’?

‘Make Lunch’ is an initiative that supports churches to run holiday clubs for families with children who are eligible for free school meals; providing a place for a nutritious meal, games, craft, fun and support. Rose explained that even though their church community is small, they have seen support grow amongst church attendees and that it has brought people of different cultural backgrounds together to serve a common goal.  The kitchen has particularly been a place where this has flourished, as people from different nationalities have shared culinary expertise and everyone has got to eat an amazing variety of foods!  

There is funding available from local councils to support providing meals for eligible children, but Rose explained that the year they accepted this, it restricted their ability to share the gospel, so have since trusted the Lord to provide financially to run ‘Make Lunch’ without the council funding.  However, Rose was also really keen to explain that TLG (Transforming Lives for Good) offer loads of support in setting up and running ‘Make Lunch’ including training, promotional materials, occasional funding and much more.

‘Make Lunch’ is offered on a referral basis, so the links with the local school have really increased and Alison, the Community Pastor at Middleton Park, is now regularly invited into school.

What have been the significant positives and encouragements from running ‘Make Lunch’?

This summer was the fifth year that Middleton Park has run ‘Make Lunch’, and having trialled different patterns over the years, offered the lunch club once a week, each week of the summer holidays.

Rose explained that this has been a long-term ministry investment and that some really positive relationships are forming, particularly with some of the families who have returned to ‘Make Lunch’ each year.  For example, there have been questions about Jesus, those who have wanted to read the Bible with someone and this Autumn they are starting to do youth Alpha with some of the young people as a result of coming to ‘Make Lunch’ and Kidz Klub.  Rose also explained that it has provided a spring-board to invite families along to other things, like family days out with the church and special events.

I particularly love how Rose articulated that ‘Make Lunch’ has created positive times for families of being together in a different setting, with some of the pressures removed for a little while.  She also explained that it gives families a positive image of church and of their desire to love and serve as Jesus demonstrates. 

It has also been an area of ministry in which people on the fringes of church have been invited in to get more involved and have become key members of the team and many are now church members.

What are the challenges to sustaining ‘Make Lunch’ as an outreach opportunity?

Team is definitely a challenge! In the first couple of years, Middleton Park ran ‘Make Lunch’ twice a week, each week during the summer, but this was hard to sustain with a small team.  However, with patience, Rose has grown a great team, particularly in the kitchen which means that different people can cook on different weeks. 

A big challenge is that life for the families who are offered a place at ‘Make Lunch’ is often chaotic, so communicating the date and time with families regularly, sending reminders of when it is happening and praying that those who are expected will turn up tests patience!

Rose also states what might be obvious, but is important to say, that running something like ‘Make Lunch’ needs the right approach to having lively children and their families in your ‘space’ and what the potential consequences of that might be!

 What would you say Rose to a church looking for creative ways to engage with families in their community…why should they consider ‘Make Lunch’?

Rose was very quick to say that the starting point is always prayer.  Rose and others spend lots of time praying for their community and for opportunities.  If ‘Make Lunch’ is something a church wants to explore, then Rose recommends inviting TLG to have conversation with you as they are very supportive.  Then to start small with just a few families, learn from your mistakes and from what works well.  There is great potential for it to grow into other things, for example cooking classes, Messy Church, after school clubs etc.  Rose also said that an important thing to do, is to ask families in your locality what they think of the idea too.

I think you’ll see from what I’ve shared above that there have been lots of examples given that show how Rose and the team at Middleton Park have been able to share their faith, but this is specifically what Rose answered when I asked her the question about how she’s been able to share her faith through ‘Make Lunch’:

Rose cautioned about being careful to not come across as judgemental, but to intentionally make loving others the main priority.  Rose also shared how Alison and herself have created dramas and stories starring ‘Doris the Duck’ to share about how God loves everyone.  She knows that there is an expectation now amongst the families who come along to hear about God and to have stories from the Bible and to sing children’s worship songs.  Parents have also got involved and are offering to serve and help out at ‘Make Lunch’ too.

Rose also happened to mention to me that the after school club that used to be held at school, now uses the church building to operate!  ‘Kidz Klub’ did use the school building but the children didn't like the idea of going back to school, so they offered them the church building which is opposite the school.  Church now support Kidz Klub by providing a cafe, and this along with Make Lunch has really strengthened the links in the community, as they are getting to know whole families and three generations of the same family are coming to family services. Rose said, “We are now seeing fruit from this work, but it has taken five years.” 

I also got in touch with Miriam Jones, Church Relationships Lead for Make Lunch at TLG.  I asked…What would you say to a church looking for a creative way to engage with families in their local community?  Why consider Make Lunch?

Make Lunch is a fantastic way to reach families in your community. It provides a safe space for families struggling with food insecurity or loneliness. Make Lunch clubs are full of food, fun and friendship and many of our clubs across the UK build meaningful relationships with families in their locality, which often translate to those families connecting in to the wider support of the church. At TLG we provide all the expert resources, training and advice you need to start a Make Lunch club and then we continue to support you as you run. You can read more, and watch stories of lives transformed through Make Lunch, here: TLG - Make Lunch