Wednesdays from 5:00pm – 6:00pm
Since 2012, Salem has hosted a free community meal every Wednesday called ‘Wednesday at the Well.’ Average attendance is between 80 – 120 guests. In all approximately 24,000 meals have been served. The meals, usually cooked from scratch by volunteers, are always hot and delicious. The menu varies from Tator-Tot Hotdish to Native American Fry Bread. The cooks share the fun of clean- up with another group of volunteers on a rotating basis known as the ‘Clean Up Crew,’ but it is not uncommon for guests to pitch in and help as well.
As important as the kitchen crew and food is, the most important part of the meal actually happens around the tables. The dining hall is set up with round tables that seat 8 people. Although often friends gather at tables with one another, members try to sit with people who are new to the meal or are simply new to them. Some of the guests are single and find the meal a wonderful opportunity to share a meal with others while others enjoy not having to cook after a long day’s work.
The Wednesday at the Well team also prepares a special meal on the Wednesday closest to Veteran Day for our local veterans. The menu is a bit fancier than usual and includes live dinner music and a short program in which Salem’s choir sings a medley of each branch of the military’s songs. Veterans who served in those branches are invited to stand as a way of honoring our local heroes.
Our community meal is one of the ways we live out God’s mission to be rooted in Christ to Love, Grow and Serve. All is done in response to what God has done for us in Jesus, so we serve all who come without judgement, expectation or prejudice.