Killeen SDA Church Tackles Loneliness Epidemic Through Food and Fellowship
The Killeen Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church in Killeen, Texas, hosted October Blast, a five-night community event. Each evening was planned to provide something valuable to the community members by offering free meals, childcare, door prizes, and 5-minute sermons hosted by the youth and Bible study groups. The event was an outreach effort toward single parents, veterans, shut-ins, retirees, or lonely students. As pastor at Killeen Seventh-day Adventist Church, Mike Fortune stated in an interview with 25 ABC:
“We’re not just trying to reach out to parents; we’re also trying to reach out to empty nesters or soldiers or family members who have soldiers overseas — people in this area that don’t really have a conversation partner or a community just to eat.”
More than just fun games and autumnal celebration, October Blast was also a chance to address the loneliness epidemic within America through food and fellowship. Toni Price, lead cook for Killeen Seventh-day Adventist Church, recognized that good food was as powerful a ministry as any sermon, and prepared enough food for the 500 registered guests. For so many, the isolation is a symptom of the belief that they would not be accepted in religious spheres, or that they’d been disconnected for too long to find community.
For Price, October Blast is a form of obedience to God and the great commission, using a delicious meal as a means to remind individuals that they are loved. “Loneliness is a place that people shouldn’t have to go, but it does happen,” she said. “We want them to know that for these five nights, and even after these five nights, they don’t have to be lonely.”