The first time I remember becoming aware of church dinners was when I was a young child. Maynardville Baptist (now the First Baptist Church of Maynardville) was going to have a homecoming. I didn’t understand at the time that homecoming was a special service to welcome former members and pastors to renew “auld acquaintance.
What I was interested in was the dinner that was to follow the morning service. In days of old, the homecoming meal would have been called “dinner on the ground”. At least that’s the way I first heard it. I wondered why people would want to spread their food all over the ground at a church. I might have thought less about that if I had related it to a picnic, but picnics were not a part of my childhood.
I asked my mother about this, and she explained that the dinner would be held inside the church basement. So why call it dinner on the ground? Mother didn’t know, and she didn’t seem to think it was worth wasting lots of time to find out.
In later years, I discovered that the exact term for church dinners was dinner on the “grounds”. The word grounds in that instance refers to church-owned property. Now it all made sense. No matter where the dinner was to be eaten—fellowship hall, church basement—the dinner was still being consumed on the church “grounds”—property.
It turned out that it didn’t matter for me on that long-ago Sunday of my youth anyway. On the appointed day it rained, and rained, and rained. I found that depressing, though rain would not have prevented the meal being served in the church basement. Worse for me—my brother brought his family to visit that entire day. I was afraid of my brother’s wife. She had this way of looking at me with evil eyes and moving her mouth like she was breathing a curse on me. Nevertheless, on a Sunday when I could have been enjoying some type of food at church, I was trapped in my own home with the person I feared most on earth at the time.
The next year was different. Mother and I attended the homecoming service and the dinner to follow. As an added treat, at least half of those present, along with a few visitors from neighboring churches, attended a special afternoon singing in the church sanctuary after the meal. If you’ve ever tried to sing in a church choir after consuming healthy portions of a church meal, you understand how difficult it is to breathe deeply enough to hold out long notes.
I have been a member of two different Baptist churches, and have visited many others. Though homecomings are a thing of the past for most congregations, there are many other occasions that vary from church to church which are celebrated with church dinners—pastor appreciation, senior adult Sunday, Christmas plays, Easter, church milestones (e.g., special speakers, building dedications, “paying off the note”). Whatever the occasion, one thing remains constant—meals are never eaten in the church sanctuary. It is considered a desecration to eat a meal in the area reserved specifically for worship, as was the Holies of Holies in the temple at Jerusalem.
Though the church sanctuary is considered holy and not to be used for eating meals, other than the Lord’s Supper, there are those who consider it sacrilege to eat a meal anywhere in the church or on church property. I had a brother-in-law who felt strongly that there should be no food eaten at church. So strong was his feeling that he would not attend the Mincey family Christmas gatherings when they were held at a church, even though they occurred outside of any church function. He based his belief, as do several other Christians, on I Corinthians 11:22 (KJV)—“What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.”
The verse had especially strong meaning for many raised in America’s Great Depression of the 1930s, when there indeed were many people that had little food for themselves, and none to share with others. As with lots of Scripture, there are different interpretations of the verse quoted above. “Feed them and they will come” seems to be the non-Biblical mantra that many follow today. Personally, I have met few modern Baptists who take offense at putting their feet under any table anywhere on which a church is willing to serve food.
Then, too, many of our mothers taught us that it is a sin to waste food. Remember being told, “There are starving kids in Africa who would love to have that food you’re wasting?” Wouldn’t it be a double sin to waste food in a church, of all places?
The homecoming at First Baptist of Maynardville used to be observed the last Sunday of every October. As with lots of other traditions, few churches with which I am acquainted observe homecoming. For those that do, homecoming is sometimes a catered affair. Those wonderful saints of old who cooked such delicious, homemade food have passed on to Heaven’s banquet table. A lot of today’s church attenders work during the week and don’t have the time to devote to preparing special dishes as did their ancestors.
Someday there will be an eternal Homecoming for all true Christians. That is one feast, rain or shine, that I do not plan to miss! Hope to see you there, Dear Reader.
I close with some church “bulletin bloopers” that relate to church and food. I hope you enjoy.

The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.

The church will host an evening of fine dining,
super entertainment,
and gracious hostility.

Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM.
Prayer and medication to follow.

Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 AM.
All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall
after the B. S. is done.

The pastor would appreciate it
if the ladies of the Congregation
would lend him their electric girdles
for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.