Click on the link above to watch a video celebrating Open Table Saturday—a collaboration between Chester Eastside Inc. and SPC that extends the regular hot meals served three times a week at Chester Eastside. Narrated by Rev. Sarah Cooper Searight, the video highlights how, through the generosity of stewardship, SPC lives out its calling to be the body of Christ in Delaware County—extending the table and building beloved community, one hot meal at a time.
› Moment for Stewardship: Open Table Saturday
by Rev. Sarah Cooper Searight
Moment for Stewardship: Open Table Saturday
by Rev. Sarah Cooper Searight
O
n January 18 of this year, SPC and longtime partner, Chester Eastside, embarked on a new iteration of our shared mission, to deepen relationships through hands-on care. Saturday, January 18 was the first Open Table Saturday, an extension of the regular hot meals that are served at Chester Eastside, three times a week.
In conversation with Rev. Andrew Jacob, Executive Director of CEI, we learned that there was only one other hot meal served on the weekend in Chester. It was a dream of CEI to be able to extend to a weekend, but resources of volunteer time and money were short. In revisioning our work of outreach, the Outreach Committee was looking for opportunities for intentional partnering that were both high engagement and high impact. Open Table Saturday is the weekly embodiment of these shared hopes between CEI and SPC. It is how we take what we have—time, energy, resources—and use these to meet a defined need in our wider community. It is how together we are transformed.
Since that opening, every Saturday from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm, members and friends from SPC prepare, serve, and welcome, sharing banter alongside guests who come to eat the delicious meal, catered by Everybody Eats Philly (a Chester-based group, dedicated to increasing food security and building community). Nearly a year in, we know the regulars— Chris, Kim, Gregory, Stephanie, Smiley, Princess, Tall Man, Ms. Marion. We’ve got a routine down, and we are expanding the invitation to our neighbors to come and be a part of the community being nurtured through this sustained commitment. Chester Eastside continues to be a reliable partner, and to be a place of hospitality and care for all who enter the doors.
Thank you for your commitment to our annual budget, which makes conversations and partnerships like this possible.
Thank you for your commitment to our annual budget, which makes conversations and partnerships like this possible.
Your financial contributions, alongside your gifts of time, expertise, and imagination, help us to be the body of Christ right here in Delaware County, extending the table, and building beloved community, one hot meal at a time.
To learn more about Open Table Saturday and sign up to help, click here!
