Saved by Sandwiches? How One New Jersey Church Successfully Emerged from the Pandemic

Clergy Commentary by Rev. Chuck Coblentz

Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing, but one who turns a blind eye will get many a curse.’ -Proverbs 28:27

“The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.” ― Mitch Albom

So, how did our church, New Dover United Methodist of Edison, New Jersey, emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic stronger than when we entered? And how have we been able to build upon that strength in the time since? “Saved by sandwiches” may be an over-simplification, but it’s not far from the truth!

In her February, 2022 article “Bread Breakers: New Jersey Church Finds Creative Way To Do Ministry During Pandemic” Tracy Simmons described how our fledgling food ministry came about. Members of our congregation, no longer able to attend worship due to the COVID restrictions, called the church office, seeking a way to stay connected. Turns out we had just begun a partnership with Saint Joseph’s Social Center in nearby Elizabeth, New Jersey, where daily the line of families in food crisis stretched round the block. When asked what was needed from us their answer was a succinct “Sandwiches!” And so it began.  

The Birth and Growth of ‘Bread Breakers

We asked our church members to make sandwiches at home and drop them off at the church. On Friday mornings a crew of volunteers came together, and with appropriate COVID safety measures, packed the sandwiches in bags along with other needed items such as fruit cups, snacks, and water. Two other United Methodist churches, Wesely United Methodist Church of South Plainfield and Centenary United Methodist Church of Metuchen quickly sent both sandwiches as well as volunteers. We also expanded our outreach to two other nearby nonprofits: “Bianca Flowers” of Plainfield, and “Food for Friends” in Rahway. Eventually we called this new ministry “Bread Breakers,” and what began with a few dozen sandwiches per week, soon grew into hundreds.

The impact of Bread Breakers was immediate. While its priority has always been about getting a needed meal to a hungry neighbor, indirectly it has strengthened nearly every aspect of our church’s ministry. In the midst of the pandemic, Tracy quoted me as saying, “I don’t know what the church is going to look like when it’s over — nobody does. But I think it’s going to be more powerful than it was.” Now, four and half years later, I’m excited to report that my optimism has been rewarded!

Thriving in the Pandemic’s Wake

While so many churches have struggled emerging from the wilderness of the pandemic, we are thriving. Attendance at both worship and Sunday School is now surpassing pre-Covid levels. Our congregational giving has increased by over one hundred percent since 2021. Other ministries we are involved in such as Rise against Hunger, Pedals for Progress, Christian Outreach Project, Christian Medical College of Vellore India, and our Dominican Republic mission have seen significantly increasing numbers in terms of volunteers and results. We send volunteer drivers to four area Wawa convenience stores who weekly donate hundreds of sandwiches and sides which we then distribute to our nonprofit partners. Now in its fifth year, Bread Breakers consistently averages over 700 sandwiches a week, and our volunteer meal-packing crew never misses a Friday. Between Bread Breakers and Wawa, we have exceeded 275,000 meals distributed to neighbors in food crisis since March of 2020. We have also begun to spread the success of Bread Breakers around the Great New Jersey United Methodist Conference, hosting a breakfast gathering in 2023, and a dinner this past year.

When asked by other pastors how we have been able to buck the trend and grow our church while many others struggle, I tell them it’s not rocket science. Heck, its not even paper airplane science! We believe that we have been blessed because rather than attempting to merely survive during the COVID crisis, we saw it as an opportunity to expand our outreach in a time of dire need.

Key Factors for our Pandemic Rebound

Breaking it down, I would say the following four  were central to our successful emergence from the pandemic:

1. From the beginning, our church council and staff relied on the information given by experts in the medical field and kept our church’s safety a priority, closing down worship immediately once the crisis became apparent. This built a level of trust from the people in the pews to our leadership that remains to this day.
2. We began broadcasting our worship services from the beginning and that continues to the present. In addition we successfully held Bible studies, Vacation Bible School as well as committee meetings on Zoom during the pandemic.
3. Developing partnerships has been an essential part of our success, increasing the number of volunteers available to do the ministry, the community partners who donate food and money, and the number of nonprofits who distribute the meals.
4. Above all, our sermons and worship are focused on Jesus’ teachings on the “Kingdom of God,” and its emphasis on sacrificial love, justice, and compassion. At New Dover, faith is always an action verb. We believe everything a church does begins with the proclamation of the Word, and we see our sanctuary more as a command center than a gathering place.

So, to answer the question, was our church “saved by sandwiches?” Well, that happened to be the crisis to which we of New Dover were called, and it was because we had the faith to rapidly respond to that crisis, that we became the church we are now. But this shouldn’t surprise anyone, should it? From its beginning in the first century, the church has always been called upon to address specific needs in the community around it. How we respond will always determine whether we stand or fall.

Bread Breakers: New Jersey Church Finds Creative Way To Do Ministry During Pandemic

Rev. Chuck Coblentz is senior pastor of New Dover UMC in Edison, New Jersey.