Breaking bread in a new, old kind of church
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ALPENA -- "If you're getting lost or confused, you can be like, hey, I'm over here," the young man said.
The small group gathered around the table in the basement of the Salvation Army church on the north side of Alpena laughed warmly and passed the taco sauce.
Salvation Army of Alpena recently began a new Sunday morning schedule. Instead of the traditional worship service held in previous years, the church now begins the week at 11:30 a.m. each Sunday with Broken Bread, a "come-as-you-are" time of food, music, and worship. The weekly services offer a place where, leaders hope, nobody feels lost or out of place.
Laughter came easy and often in the plain but pleasant room on a recent Sunday morning, where good smells from the kitchen gave evidence that the weekly luncheon was underway.
The youngest in the group, Alec Molter, has been involved with the church since he was a little boy. The older women teased him about his days of jumping over seats and crawling under pews. Now the young man is considering becoming an officer in the organization that has felt like a home.
The title of the new Sunday program comes from the biblical book of Acts, which speaks of the early disciples breaking bread -- that is, eating together -- "with gladness and singleness of heart."
Some form of bread is served each week at the Salvation Army, along with a full meal, according to organizer Maj. Kevin Cedervall, but the real nourishment is more spiritual than physical.
Broken Bread services start with simple games and activities to get people laughing and comfortable with each other. Then comes lunch. On St. Patrick's Day, the menu was tacos. Not exactly festive, but still tasty, Cedervall said.
The service time is kept intentionally simple. Members and guests talk comfortably, coffee cups and cans of Coke close at hand. An offering is gathered, a song is sung, a Bible passage is read.
The discussion time that follows is guided by some prewritten questions, but it's not unusual for the conversation to move in unexpected directions as people ask questions of their own.
The questions, Cedervall said, are the important part.
The food and the fun build relationships, but the questions are what lead to spiritual strengthening. People who have grown up in a church their whole lives sometimes have questions they've never been able to ask, Cedervall said.
"Or perhaps they knew all the answers, all the right words to say, but they don't know the meaning behind the words," said the Breaking Bread leader, adding that he tries to avoid "churchy" language, preferring instead to choose words that anyone can understand.
Conversation flows from questions to sharing of stories. Those in attendance speak of personal struggles, ways in which they want to apply their spiritual beliefs to their daily living and the challenges they face in doing so.
A nontraditional form of worship, where questions are welcome, is a good fit for the people Salvation Army helps, Cedervall feels.
"There are a lot of people in this community that maybe don't fit into the normal church," Cedervall said. "We kind of fit in a weird place because we cater to people in need. We thought this would be a good opportunity to expose them to church in a non-threatening way."
The change in service time and format about a month ago has not produced an increase in attendance -- yet. Cold, snowy Sundays haven't helped, Cedervall said.
Still, there's plenty of time. The church is willing to let growth happen at its own pace.
"We were originally thinking we would get to try this for six months," he said. "But our boss has given us permission to try it as long as it takes."
The new format is part of a much larger "dinner church" movement gaining popularity across the country, Cedervall said. The movement's roots are in the early church, when disciples' worship time was very much like the atmosphere in the basement of the brick Salvation Army building on 2nd Avenue.
"They read together, they ate together, they talked," Cedervall said, speaking of the bonds that are forged in a communal type of worship. He has wondered if the the way church is often conducted today encourages remoteness instead of togetherness.
"We get in that attitude of, 'in front (of the church) is all the important stuff. I'm just going to watch,' and that's not what church is supposed to be," Cedervall said. "It's supposed to be an interaction with God."
The Salvation Army is known for its Christmas kettles and thrift stores. It also offers a food pantry, utility assistance, summer recreation programs, disaster relief services, teen game nights, and more.
Hundreds of people come through the Salvation Army building every month, seeking assistance and taking advantage of the services offered by the organization.
What many people don't know, though, is that the Salvation Army is, at its core, a church.
As promotional materials say, the Salvation Army believes in faith put into action, "Christianity with its sleeves rolled up." Its services not only meet immediate physical, financial, and emotional needs, but also offer opportunities for lasting life changes through spiritual support.
The dinner church, with its tacos and questions, is one more way that the church is opening its arms to people who need it.
"That's our goal," Cedervall said, "to be here for people."
Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693 or jriddle@thealpenanews.com.