The congregation of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Elizabethtown takes Matthew 25:35 to heart when the Loaves and Fishes Cafe operates.

"We do this because Jesus says to," said senior pastor A.J. Domines, describing the meal ministry. "The Bible says, 'For I was hungry, and you gave me food.' We are doing this in obedience to the Lord, who calls us to feed the hungry."

The Loaves and Fishes Cafe provides a free takeout dinner on Thursdays from 5 to 5:30 p.m. at the church, 125 E. High St., Elizabethtown. The ministry launched in the spring of 2020, during the height of the pandemic, although Domines had the idea to start the program earlier.

"This was something I wanted to do even before COVID, particularly over the summer months when children who get breakfast and lunch at school were not getting that," he recalled. "I wondered, 'What do they do over the summer?' That question became even more important during COVID when they weren't going to school at all."

The ministry began as a lunch outreach in May of 2020, with volunteers cooking the food inside the church kitchen and serving it at tables outside.

The ministry continued over lunch throughout that summer, but the decision was made to move to dinnertime in the hopes of serving even more people.

Volunteers come to the church about 3 p.m. or sometimes earlier to begin cooking the meal.

"It's evolved and developed over the last three years. We're able to serve 35 families in 30 minutes," Domines noted. "We might get one person who comes and takes five meals for a family of five, so we don't see 100 people coming in the door, but 80 to 100 individual meals go out of our kitchen."

The meal is open to anyone, he emphasized. "We ask no questions, other than your name and how many people are in your household so we know how many we're feeding," he said. The first time people come for a meal, they can just show up, and then they are asked if they plan to return the following week for planning purposes.

The menu varies based on what the church can find on sale or through Blessings of Hope. "We've done baked chicken, roast pork and sauerkraut, pasta with sauce and Italian sausage," Domines shared. "We try to keep it healthy. We always serve a piece of fruit or some kind of fresh vegetable, and we always serve a dessert."

In addition to the dinners, the ministry often gives away extras such as eggs, cereal, orange juice or milk, donated by congregation members or purchased from Blessings of Hope.

Domines said church members have enthusiastically embraced the ministry. "I hardly ever lack for volunteers, and sometimes, there's not a lot for people to do because so many people are here volunteering."

Although many of the guests who come through the line are familiar faces week after week, the ministry continues to grow. "I don't think a week has gone by in the last six months where we haven't received a new person or family," Domines said.

He encourages anyone with a need to come for a meal. People should park in the church parking lot and enter through the back door.