First Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs

The Marian House Soup Kitchen

First Lutheran Church in Colorado Springs has a heart for serving. They are connected to a variety of local service ministries in the Colorado Springs area, and have many members from the church that actively volunteer at the different ministry sites. One program that First Lutheran is actively involved with is the Marian House Soup Kitchen. A long term volunteer from First Lutheran wrote the following piece about their service at the Marian House:

First Lutheran Church has been partners with the Marian House since its beginnings in a local church basement in 1970. Pastor Paul Peel (recently retired) encouraged FLC to support the Marian House and Catholic Charities throughout his 48 years’ tenure at the church.

Since 1985, the Marian House Soup Kitchen, under the direction of Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, has been serving people who are in need in downtown Colorado Springs. Hot, nutritious meals are provided for 600 or more people most days. Towards the end of the month, the number of meals served can increase to 700 or more. Total meals served per month continue to increase.

Guests include struggling families with children, seniors on a fixed income, the working poor, veterans, people with disabilities, and those who are homeless. On average, 60 percent are working poor; nearly 40% are homeless. Meals for lunch are served Monday through Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; breakfast/brunch is served on Sundays, 8:45 a.m. to 10 a.m.

First Lutheran Church is responsible for providing volunteer support every Friday. Complete and nutritious meals consisting of (at a minimum) soup, meat entrees, vegetables, fruit salads, green salads, pastries are served to clients. First Lutheran members, a weekly team of six, defrost and bake whole turkeys (over 300 each year) that are transported to the soup kitchen every Friday and transformed into a turkey dinner of bread stuffing and sliced turkey breasts and gravy. Also every week, FLC donates 50 pounds of either ground beef or ground turkey to be used in meat entrees.
Doors open to volunteers for food preparation at 6:30 a.m. on Fridays. On average about 50 volunteers are necessary to prepare, serve, bus tables, and clean up. While guests line up outside before doors open, volunteers and staff gather in a large circle for a special prayer asking God to be with those we are about to serve.

The Friday volunteers make it all work, the majority of whom are dedicated to helping at the Marian House every Friday. They look forward to providing not only food but warm smiles and welcoming conversation that brightens the day of our special guests. Friday volunteers are a close-knit family. We call ourselves the Friday A-Team; we provide nutritious food and also words of compassion, kindness, and understanding to God’s people dining at the Marian House. God has rewarded our volunteers with so many blessings, and we look forward each week to caring for His people by being involved in this special mission at the Marian House.