Faith and Food

Destination Church in St. Thomas, Ontario, is a place for community, hope, and purpose – and really good food.

 “If someone is hungry, it’s really hard for them to hear you,” explains pastor and church planter Beth Fellinger. Destination Church has had a big impact on the lives of hungry people, including lots of single moms in the community.

“If you’re a single mom and you have no family support and we just say, ‘Jesus loves you; we’ll pray for you,’ that’s great – but so what?”

This church is about more than just doing ministry for people, but about doing ministry with people.

The community is starting to notice – what began with gardening and community dinners has grown as partners all over the city have come together in Destination Church’s building, formerly occupied by bars, restaurants, and a strip club.

Planted just six years ago with support from Home Missions, now this space is home to a farmer’s market, life skills programs, ‘Kitchen Smarts’ classes on how to make nutritious meals, certification courses to equip people for jobs in the food industry, group meetings for at-risk youth, “Shenanigans” events and classes for people with special needs, debt counseling and budgeting courses, Alcoholics Anonymous, and of course Sunday worship.

Destination Church, explains Fellinger, adds value to people’s lives and builds its ministry in layers. “We find [a group of] single moms who can come together and be mentored by people who have been through it. They become a group; they babysit for each other… I can coach from the sideline but they’re actually doing the mission work themselves.”

 Two single moms at Destination are now able to move into their own houses thanks in part to life skills learned at church.

“Our goal is to make a faith foundation for their life and use it to raise them up ... it’s not just about food, it’s about learning life skills and being part of [this community],” said Fellinger.