At Sacred Heart, Wednesday Lunches Strengthen Community Spirits
posted May 4, 2016
On Wednesday mornings, Angie Stover wakes before dawn to make enough fresh bread to serve friends and parish members across the Pine Ridge community. Under her watch as pastoral associate at Sacred Heart Church, Angie has helped to create what is now a well-loved tradition. Each Wednesday, community members from across the reservation come together at Sacred Heart to enjoy a lunch of homemade soup, Indian tacos and freshly baked sweets. The lunch sale began as a fundraiser to help parish members travel to the annual Tekakwitha Conference, which celebrates the contributions of indigenous Catholics across North America. But for Angie, Sacred Heart’s Wednesday lunches now serve another, and perhaps greater, purpose.
“This is really a place where people come to nourish both their body and their spirit, as well as their friendships,” she says. “We try to create an environment where people feel at home. Everyone is welcome and we sit together and take time to enjoy a meal. And if someone can’t afford lunch on a particular day, we still try to provide for them. It’s a chance to bring the community together.”
On this sunny Wednesday at Sacred Heart, the parking lot is almost completely full and there is a line of people waiting that winds its way from the door toward the church kitchen. Behind the counter, Angie and her son are serving hearty plates of fry bread topped with meat and cheese and other taco dressings as they talk and laugh with parishioners and friends in the line. It takes an entire team to prepare such extraordinary quantities of food. While Angie prepares the bread dough, her son fries it for tacos and makes soup, while another team member bakes and serves beautiful gourmet cupcakes and other treats.
Across the church hall, community members of all ages—from the very elderly to toddlers who are barely walking—enjoy the meal together. And for Angie, seeing her community feel nourished and strengthened is what keeps her and her team going.
“There are certainly times when we get tired and want to stop, but I draw on strength from my prayer life. We all have reserves to draw on. And God is telling me to do this.”
Sacred Heart’s Wednesday lunches actually evolved from the church’s weekly rummage sale and flea market. When Angie came to Sacred Heart over 15 years ago, she and community outreach minister Wanda Standing Bear started the rummage sales initially to raise funds for the church, but also to create economic opportunity. Community members were able to come and sell their own used items to support themselves and their families.
Today, that tradition continues. Each Wednesday, Wanda opens the church’s rummage room and hosts a flea market during lunch that gives parishioners a chance to recycle their own unwanted items and to find clothes, housewares, and other necessities to bring home. As people bring in donations, Wanda greets them warmly, and separates new items for women, men, children, and babies. At nearly 80 years old, she says her work engaging with community members helps to keep her going.
“I like doing what I do because I’m moving all the time. I meet a lot of different people, from all of the districts.”
Angie agrees that the flea market provides an important service for community members.
“Giving people a chance to earn additional income has an impact on the community. We want to help people reestablish a sense of dignity and pride. This gives people another opportunity to care for themselves and that ultimately helps to build more self-esteem.”
Recently Angie began opening the doors to the church’s sanctuary itself during Wednesday’s lunches. She encourages anyone carrying a heavy burden or dealing with grief, depression, or anger to take a moment in the quiet of the church to light a candle and say a prayer. She hopes that having the sanctuary open will create even more space for people to strengthen their bodies and spirits.
“Here on the reservation there are enough wakes and funerals—we’re ministering to those needs all the time. But we wanted this to be an event that celebrates life; to be a moment of lightness and hope during even the darkest weeks. I think just seeing people you know and love and enjoying a warm meal together can be a powerful source of healing. I hope that’s what these lunches do for our community.”
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Photos © Red Cloud Indian School