Pastors and congregations nationwide are opening their pantries, expanding outreach, and living out the call to feed “the least of these.”
(Source: World In Black )
“I am not going to hold Giving Sunday today; it would be inappropriate,” said Rev. Dr. Jamal-Harrison Bryant to his New Birth Missionary Baptist Church congregation on Oct. 26 in Lithonia, Georgia.
Giving Sunday — a day typically set aside for a special offering to lessen the church’s debt — would have to wait.
“I will not hold Giving Sunday until the Sunday after the government shutdown ends,” Bryant said, signaling that the offering would resume only when people could return to work, receive back pay, and see their SNAP benefits restored.
A Nation on the Brink of Hunger
Many Americans are bracing themselves as Nov. 1 approaches, a day when millions of families in this country, who usually receive assistance from the SNAP program to feed their households for a month, are slated to receive zero. The lack of benefits is due to the government shutdown that has spanned 28 days so far and resulted in government employees working without pay.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food security as access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. According to the agency, about 39 million people — roughly 13% of the U.S. population — live in low-income neighborhoods with limited access to grocery stores or supermarkets, areas often described as “food deserts.”
Those communities are disproportionately Black.
USDA data show that in 2024, about 41.7 million people in 22.2 million households received SNAP benefits, including 26% who identified as Black — an estimated 5.8 million Black households.
“If those benefits were suddenly removed, families in already food-insecure neighborhoods would face even greater barriers to healthy food,” said a USDA spokesperson in a 2024 Food and Nutrition Service report.
Food insecurity among Black Americans is already disproportionately high: about 22% of Black households faced food insecurity in 2023, compared with 13.5% of U.S. households overall.
Faith Communities Fill the Gap
While government programs come and go, churches have been consistent in their support to the communities when their neighbors have been lacking in food, clothing, and basic needs. That’s especially true of the Black church, which sees as its duty the fulfillment of the Matthew 25 manifesto, where Jesus stipulates that service to the least of these is the same thing as service to himself.
National studies show that more than 60% of Black churches provide food to their communities through pantries, meal programs, or distribution partnerships, according to the Faith Communities Today survey. Many would posit that faith-based food ministries would face overwhelming demand if SNAP benefits are reduced or eliminated.
At New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, Bryant said he quietly opened the church’s food ministry, The King’s Table, a few days early — and was stunned.
“To my surprise, with no announcement, no media, no fanfare, 120 people showed up,” he said. “And I was surprised to find out that the 120 were all FBI agents who had no food for their families.”
More than 60% of Black churches provide food to their communities.
Typically, the church prepares food for 1,000 to 1,500 people. “But this week,” Bryant said, “we’re preparing for 2,000 to show up. We did not see this happening, the longest government shutdown in American history. As a consequence, we’re going to need $110,000 to $175,000 just to keep up. Every Tuesday, 100% of what is raised will go to finance The King’s Table.”
He urged congregants to bring canned goods whenever they come: “Clean out your cupboards. Go to the supermarket. Don’t go to Target. We want to be a blessing to families in this community and city, not just this congregation.”
Beyond the Pulpit: Feeding a Nation
In Virginia Beach, Virginia, Pastors Robert and Wendy Spady of Open Altar Ministries have operated a food security ministry since founding their congregation in 2017.
“In addition to the beach bags we prepared weekly during the summer with nonperishables for 60 children, we also have the pull-up pantry in which cars collect food for over 200 families of all colors,” says Wendy Spady. “Sometimes the line stretches for a quarter of a mile while they patiently wait their turns. But every week we feed 50 to 80 families, including 300 children.”
This year, she says, the demand has surged. “We have already seen a tremendous increase because we serve food by appointment only on Wednesdays and Thursdays. We’re well known as a food pantry in the Hampton Roads area.”
The church also serves two senior facilities with 70 and 80 residents. “We go to them twice a month and serve food boxes that are already made up, and we take meat from our freezer because the food bank supplies canned goods, but they’re out of meat,” Spady explains.
The pantry’s directory of available items, she says, “would normally be a page and a half. But that has been cut down significantly — not just because of the SNAP benefits cut, but also because of the funding they’re getting to make purchases from USDA products.”
Despite the challenges, she says, “We’ve been able to share meat from our two huge freezers. And we were able to get free chicken on Monday and have access to this store that gives us big totes and pallets of meats.”
On the second Saturday of each month, they also serve about 125 meals to the homeless in partnership with another ministry — food that can be heated in a microwave or eaten without cooking.
They also deliver food to people who are homebound or without transportation.
The Church as First Responder
Social media serves as a billboard of successes and opportunities for help:
- Father Michael Pfleger, rector of Sabinain Chicago, shared on Facebook on Oct. 27: “Our pantry hit a new record today — 242 individuals — and still a line outside.” The church plans a drive-up and walk-up food giveaway on Nov. 1.
- House of Prayer Faith Centerin Baltimore is advertising free food distribution, prayer, and music from noon to 2 p.m. on 8 at 2654 Kirk Avenue.
- The pantry at Moses the Black Parishin Chicago serves 400–500 families each week.
- This list of resources for furloughed federal workersincludes both food and financial assistance .
Rev. Bryant also offered these community resources for anyone in need:
- org– search by ZIP code
- Call:1-(800)5-HUNGRY
- Text your ZIP code to:1-400-548-6479
As November dawns, the question isn’t whether the church will show up. Because as Rev. Bryant reminded his congregation, “We want to be a blessing to families in this community and city, not just this congregation.”