Imagine the pleasure of adding a basket of piping-hot, golden-brown yeast buns to your dinner table tonight.
Looking for a way to connect with their congregation throughout the pandemic, Pastor Rich and Inge Kopanke decided to roll up their sleeves and do some baking. And they kept on doing it. Over the course of several months, this pastoral couple from Faith EMC, Kitchener has been making dough, shaping it into balls, and tucking them into pans. They began making twice a week deliveries of oven-ready buns, eventually to all of the church families. Armed with extras, they were often able to share a pan with nearby neighbors at the same time. What a lovely surprise to answer your doorbell and find someone standing there with a smile and a delicious gift. God has blessed this labour of love.
“It has been an awesome opportunity for ministry actually,” says Pastor Rich, who noted that they often arrived at a perfect time. “Once during a porch visit I was able to pray for someone going for surgery and I wouldn’t have known about it had I not arrived when I did.” This family were not frequent attenders and had not thought to call the church for prayer. In addition to being a chance for impromptu social distance porch visiting, people have shared issues and concerns and they’ve stood and prayed together.
During the hot days of summer, the Kopankes quit baking in favour of hosting small groupings for backyard barbeques to build community. “We mixed people together, giving people from the congregation a chance to get to know some they didn’t know well while enjoying a meal together.”
Summer behind us now for a few months, Bun Runs will soon resume.
This article is featured in the Winter 2020 edition of The EMCC Together newsletter.
Download a PDF copy of the newsletter and previous EMCC Together publications here: https://emcctogether.ca/emcc-together-back-issues/
