Meals of Compassion
The Meals of Compassion (MOC) Ministry
Mission Statement
The MOC Ministry ministers to the hungry of Cobb County by meeting their physical need for food.
MOC History
In 1998, Davette Harvey (a volunteer with the Turner Chapel AME Church Women’s Missionary Society) contacted the Turner Chapel Evangelism Ministry Purpose Head, Rev. Harden Perry, to request assistance with serving a lunch meal at the MUST Ministries Elizabeth Inn Campus located at 55 Elizabeth Church Road in Marietta on Saturday, January 2, 1999. Following that meal, Rev. Perry was contacted by a MUST Ministries representative who wanted to know if Turner Chapel AME Church would commit to preparing and serving a hot meal on an ongoing basis. Rev. Perry discussed this with several Evangelism Ministry volunteers who agreed to prepare and serve a hot breakfast on the first Saturday of each month under the leadership of Mary Perry. This volunteer effort started on February 6, 1999.
After about a year of serving breakfast at MUST Ministries, the MOC Ministry was presented to the Turner Chapel AME Church Official Board and identified formally as a Turner Chapel AME Church ministry. About that same time, MUST Ministries contacted Mary Perry to ask if the MOC Ministry could prepare and serve a hot meal on one Sunday each month. Even though she knew it would be difficult to get volunteers to commit to preparing and serving breakfast on a Sunday morning, Mary was able to find several committed volunteers, and the fourth Sunday of each month was selected as the second breakfast to be prepared and served each month by the MOC Ministry.
The MOC Ministry members have consistently prepared and served a hot breakfast to guests in the MUST Ministries Elizabeth Inn Homeless Shelter since February 1999. Normally, there are five or six volunteers, led by Mary Perry, serving each breakfast. The volunteers meet at the MUST Ministries Loaves & Fishes Kitchen at 5:30 am to begin preparing the hot breakfast, which consists of scrambled eggs, grits, sausage patties, salmon croquettes, pancakes, biscuits, and orange juice. Breakfast is served at 6:30 am at the MUST Hope House homeless shelter to approximately 50-55 guests and other MUST Ministries volunteers.
The MOC Ministry also participated in hosting a community Thanksgiving Day dinner in November 2014 and prepared and served dinner at the YWCA in Marietta to children from the Battered Women Shelter. The MOC Ministry also participated in the MUST Ministries Summer Lunch Program for several years.
MUST Ministries Summer Lunch Program
The MUST Ministries Summer Lunch Program provides nutritious lunches each summer for thousands of children in the Metro Atlanta Area during the months of June and July when many children are uncertain when they will receive a meal because their primary food resource, the school cafeteria, is closed. For several years, the MOC Ministry participated in the MUST Ministries Summer Lunch Program by providing lunches each week during this period of food insecurity. The MOC Ministry plans to resume participation in the MUST Ministries Summer Lunch Program by providing enough food for five days of breakfast and lunch for 500 children during the months of June and July.
A Blessing to Everyone
The residents of the shelter and their children who the MOC Ministry serves are not the only ones blessed by the works of the MOC Ministry. The MOC Ministry members and other Turner Chapel AME Church ministries who volunteer, say that “God truly blesses them as they do the work that He has called us to do by feeding and being a blessing to so many in need.” The members of the MOC Ministry believe that the services of this ministry uplift people physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Receiving a hot, nourishing meal allows people to search for employment or
housing and to take care of their families without being preoccupied with hunger. This benefits the entire community.
Volunteering: Food and Fellowship
The MOC Ministry invites other Turner Chapel AME Church ministries and other individual volunteers to serve with us as we continue to partner with MUST Ministries at their new Bells Ferry Road facility. New members and volunteers are always needed, and we look forward to our work and fellowship together in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As of 2022, MOC Ministry has ten regular participating members who serve breakfasts for approximately 50-55 guests, twice a month, at MUST Hope House Loaves and Fishes Community Kitchen.
Frequently Asked Questions:
On what days and at what time do volunteers have to be there?
The MOC Ministry volunteers prepare and serve a hot breakfast on the first Saturday and fourth Sunday of each month in the MUST Hope House Loaves and Fishes Community Kitchen. Volunteers arrive by 5:30 am to begin preparing breakfast.
How much time is involved?
Breakfast is served at 6:30 am. It takes approximately 1.5 hours to prepare and serve breakfast. The kitchen cleanup is taken care of by onsite community services workers and other volunteers.
Do you have to serve each month?
Volunteers can serve once a month or several times a year, basically, whenever they are available. Do you have to be a member of Turner Chapel Church to volunteer? No, you do not have to be a member of Turner Chapel AME Church to serve breakfast with the MOC Ministry.
For more specific information regarding the MOC Ministry, contact Mary Perry at (404) 798-3740 or email:
mary_hperry@comcast.net.