FOOD FOR THE SOUL: CHURCH DINNERS FORTIFY CONGREGATION WITH FELLOWSHIP, GREAT FOOD

While Scripture provides the sustenance for spiritual growth, area churches occasionally try to supplement it with something substantial for the flesh.

It's food for the soul.

No matter where you live or which congregation is host, church dinners offer a chance to sample some of the best casseroles, baked ham, kettle beef, fried fish or chicken and dumplings in town while enjoying the company of friends and family.

And that's before dessert.

Church dinners are popular not just for their food but for their fellowship. And guests are always welcome.

People come because it's good food and they like the fellowship, said the Rev. Joel Sarrault of Eisleben Lutheran Church in Scott City.

His congregation held a pig roast Friday night and fed crowds with barbecue roasted pork, potatoes, homemade slaw and desserts.

Because the menus and locations vary, many of the dinner guests often are from other congregations or cities in the region.

"There are regulars in all the churches around," Sarrault said. "They make the circuit all year round."

Many people come because the food at church dinners always seems to taste better than at a restaurant. It offers a different atmosphere and gives them a chance to help a worthwhile cause, he said. The Lutheran church dinner is a fund-raising effort to pay for a new parish hall.

Whatever the reasons, church dinners are popular among all denominations in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois. As fall creeps in and temperatures drop, the number of chili dinners and sausage dinners is on the rise.

The congregations at Whitewater United Methodist Church and at St. John's United Church of Christ in Fruitland will get started early with preparations for their dinners today.

At Whitewater, the members have 15 chickens to be boiled and then deboned and the dumplings rolled before the crowds arrive for serving at 3 p.m.

"The ladies are known for their dumplings," said Rex Haines, a church member. About 350 to 400 people are expected for the meal.

While the dumplings are always a hit, desserts also are an annual favorite.

"Pecan pies are hard to keep around," he said. Each family donates a pie and cake to be served at the meal.

The Fruitland congregation will begin grilling its whole hog sausage links around noon. Family-style serving won't start until 4 p.m.

Most of the food at church dinners is donated by members. The Eisleben congregation donated everything from the potatoes and onions to the meat being served.

Sarrault even offered his father's recipe for barbecue sauce. Members adapted it to cover the 500 pounds of meat they expect to serve.

"We don't want a lot of leftovers," Sarrault said.

And there aren't likely to be any.

The smells of burning wood mixed with freshly sliced lemons and the sweetness of barbecue sauce created an aroma that would make mouths water.

And that was before the meat was even cooked.

Two years ago the pig roast sold out quickly. So now three hogs were on the menu, said Raymond Eifert. His wife, Shirley, heads the parish hall fund-raising committee.

Barbecue sauce recipe

2 gallons barbecue sauce

8 sliced lemons

2 quarts lemon juice

16 sliced onions

4 c. brown sugar

4 bottles Italian dressing

salt and pepper

24 cheap beers

To make 10 gallons of sauce. Baste over pork during roasting.

Source: Eisleben Lutheran Church, Scott City