Beth's Lunchbox

Beth’s Lunchbox a ministry of caring, designed to feed the hungry in this community, that demonstrates the heart of giving lodged within this congregation.

Beth’s Lunchbox was started by a group of women at Incarnation in July of 2013, after Beth Shafer one of the well-loved members of this congregation became ill and passed quickly from this life to the next.  Beth was an absolute pillar of the church and the community, giving tirelessly to help others.  When she passed the women of the church were devastated.  They sought a way to establish some memorial to her and her years of selfless giving.  Out of that desire Beth’s Lunchbox was born.

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Beth’s Lunchbox is a ministry of outreach to the elderly, sick, and hungry in the Newport community.  On the last Saturday of each month the members of the church come together to pack lunches for shut-ins and folks on limited incomes that need a meal on the weekend.  People are welcome to stop by the church and pick up a free lunch.  For those who are unable to do that, another group of volunteers delivers each lunch to its destination by noon on Saturday.  Lunches, packed in brown paper bags, may consist of homemade soup, a sandwich and cookies, spaghetti and meatballs accompanied by a roll and dessert, hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, or oven fried chicken, all homemade at the church and given freely to those in need in the community.  Before the lunches are distributed, the congregation gathers around them for a prayer of blessing that each lunch might feed the body and spirit of someone in the community that day.

Mid-week, prior to the last Saturday of the month, the church places a notice in the local paper, saying those wanting a meal should call the church to leave their name and address.  The meal will be delivered to them free.   Calls pour in, so do warm messages of thanks from feeble elderly folks in the community, and those whose resources are stretched far too thin in the course of a week, who appreciate greatly this lunch, and the ministry of caring behind it.

Beth’s Lunchbox began in July of 2013 with about 40 lunches being packed and distributed.  Today, most months, the congregation packs and delivers over 100 or more lunches the last Saturday of the month, no small feat for a small congregation.  Moreover, Beth’s Lunchbox is self-funded through contributions.  When the treasury gets low, the call is put out to the congregation that funds are needed and the same generous folks who volunteer to make, pack and deliver the lunches contribute to substantiate the funds needed to keep this ministry of caring going.  As word has spread of Beth’s Lunchbox other community churches have also contributed 

funds to this project.  

In the United Church of Christ, we have a saying God is still speaking.  In Newport, Pennsylvania, God spoke to a small number of church people and the result was a ministry of caring that extends across the community in a big way.

Sometimes, a small group of people wonder what they can do to make a difference in the world where bigger always seems better.  In Newport, Pennsylvania, Incarnation United Church of Christ, a little church with a big heart has found one small creative way to reach beyond themselves, and the impact of caring is as large and powerful as the heart of this congregation.

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