Community Meal

May be an image of 4 people, baby and text that says "GRATEFUL St Jude's"

The weekly Community Meal in a nutshell…

St Jude’s Welcome Community Meal is a ‘by donation’ hot weekly meal for those who can afford it, and completely free to those who cannot. It is held at the church site 444 Brighton Rd Brighton, from 11.30am-1.30pm every Friday lunchtime.

The Community Meal is Coordinated by Mr Paul Miller, with support from the Parish Priest, Church Wardens, Parish Council, and 40+ of the faithful people of the parish.

The Community Meal is provided to locals and to visitors alike with the express purpose of: feeding nutritious meals those living with food insecurity, and/ or those who are isolated and would benefit from a caring community.

You’re invited… we can’t wait to see you at a Community Meal!

Community Meal Supporters

We thank our partners in the government, in other churches, and local service organisations who have shown their commitment to helping this ministry reach its aims. We especially acknowledge the generous support of AnglicareSA who assisted us in the start up phase of this program.

Below are a list of those organisations which have seen the value of the work we have been putting into the community meal, and making amazing contributions in 2023.

Community Meal & our Mission Action Plan

St Jude’s Mission Action plan (MAP) Statement:

St Jude’s seeks to provide a generous and authentic welcome to all, to encourage children and young people to grow in faith, and to sustain and renew the environment.

The Community Meals will have links to all three aspirations in our vision statement. First, the Community Meals will provide generous and authentic welcome through the creation of a safe community, and nourishing food. Second, it will encourage young people in their journey through the continuing support of food ministry for families. St Jude’s is particularly well connected to, and keen to support, families in need at Brighton Primary School were appropriate. Third, during the development of our MAP we have improved our parish waste management, including collection of deposit attracting containers- which help us to fund our food ministries. We will continue to endeavour to find ways to make our food ministry as environmentally friendly as possible.

In 2022 we reviewed our Mission Action Plan and found that the Community Meal project will meet the needs identified in the local community- namely the need to address isolation, and basic human needs of nourishment and community.

St Jude’s has also grown in desire and capacity to show God’s love in action through outreach work, and being a community of service in out local area.

The Parish already encounters refugees families in our neighbourhood, as well as families under financial, emotional, and spiritual stress on our doorstep. There is homelessness in the streets near the parish and throughout the local area.