New Around the Mission

Food-4-All at Old North Abbey

March 29, 2011

Representing the majority of 20 and 30-somethings at Old North Abbey who struggle to make ends meet in an economic downtown, members Aaron and Brenna Wright came up with the idea for the Food-4-All meal-sharing cooperative to save money on grocery bills and increase their tithe.


Food-4-All participants share a meal together on Ash Wednesday.

Currently, thirty people enrolled in the cooperative pair up to cook a meal for all participants on a pre-designated day of the week. Every night, a meal is cooked and served in a different home, and those enrolled can choose to eat in or bring a container to take food home. The average size home is 1400 sq. ft., and people gather for conversation around an island in the kitchen or scatter out on the floor once seating is full.

“It has become a competition between all of us to see who can prepare the best meal for the least amount of money,” laughs the Rev. Patrick King. “Some people grow their own food and have been able to serve a great meal for just $15!”

Meals have always been central to the DNA of the church. Old North Abbey spent its adolescent years between three homes in the neighborhood of Old North Knoxville beginning in August of 2009 and recently put down roots in a central storefront location renovated by volunteers. The church plant has evolved into an incubator for ministry leaders (one couple just moved to Hawaii to plant an Anglican Mission congregation) and a home base for people living incarnationally among seven neighborhoods that branch out from the downtown worship space.

Patrick King and family

King, known as “speedo guy” to college basketball fans (his accolades are re-visited in the media each year during March Madness), is passionate about culture expressed in urban settings and dreams of architectural designs and city planning that facilitate Christian community. “I love thinking about place – buildings, streets, lighting, infrastructure – it all matters to me.”

So while members pull weeds at a subsidized housing project for the mentally and physically handicapped, partner with the compassion coalition to end chronic homelessness in their community and wait on a beautification grant proposal to build flower gardens in their neighborhood, they also share dinner together five evenings a week.

While most of the Food-4-All participants are adult church members, the more neighbors hear about the cooperative, the more they want to get involved, and new faces continue to show up around the dinner table.

“I am convinced that we learn how to be human beings around the table,” explains King. “When we take the Eucharist, we learn about humility and sacrifice. I hope we are creating that same kind of table in the kitchens around our neighborhoods.”

For more information about Old North Abbey email them and read more about the Food-4-All cooperative in the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Posted By: Cynthia P. Brust
Categories: Faith in Action