Fr. Mark Andrew Jones, BSG
Rector of St. Nicholas Episcopal Church
TMBA: You only agreed to be a Guest Angel if I promised not to label you as any kind of an Angel. But I use a very fluid definition of who or what that might be and I like to think of Angels in terms of function rather than form. What is your definition of an Angel?
Fr. MA: Well, when I hear the term Angel there are two concepts that come to mind. The first is is the more traditional concept of a messenger from God and the second is one of a person who is just extraordinarily virtuous. I’m neither an Angelic messenger of God nor extraordinarily virtuous so that’s why I don’t I don’t necessarily apply that term.
TMBA: What is your core belief that became the primary driving force leading your church’s community outreach program?
Fr. MA: I like to say that we don’t we don’t take ourselves too seriously. There is a God and it’s not us so let’s just focus on loving as we are loved. So that drives us out into the community to to ensure that others feel the warmth of God’s love.
TMBA: The Holy Grill Mobile Feeding Ministry has now served over 63,000 hot meals to the hungry and homeless in Broward County and recently passed a major milestone with the purchase of a new food truck. What are some of the features of the new rig?
Fr. MA: The new food truck truly is a blessing. We started out with a used food trailer and it was minimally equipped and was extremely hot inside. This new food truck doubles our cooking capacity.
Whereas, in the original food trailer we had one double basket deep fryer, one griddle and a two burner gas stove. In the new food truck we have two double basket deep fryers, a much larger size griddle and four burners. Plus, we also have now an oven included, a larger refrigerator and a freezer. The unit is also equipped with air conditioning which certainly helps our volunteer crew. It’s a very impressive rig and I’ll add one other thing – the company that helped us – they were just great! Knowing what we do they said that they really support what we do and, instead of having an industrial generator in the truck, they installed at no additional cost an impressive lithium battery power plant for the truck, so we’re thrilled with it! And it’s doing a wonderful job in operation.
TMBA: Tell me about your volunteers.
Fr. MA: Ah, the Volunteers! Now that’s where we start talking about angels. They are amazing! You know it can be hot working, particularly in the original food trailer, during the dog days of August. But they are out there all of the time and just doing an amazing work. Not only are they serving food but they’re laughing and spending social time with the homeless and food insecure. I think it’s all part of, not just feeding bodies but, feeding souls. So it is delightful to see them.
TMBA: In addition to the Holy Grill, St. Nicholas has several other Ministries that provide for those in need. One of them is Holy Provisions.
Fr.MA: Yes, Holy Provisions is an attempt to address the food insecurity among low income individuals and the elderly as well as low-income families with children. It consists of two parts. Tuesdays we’ll receive shipments of food from various sources which we break out and arrange on the tables in our Parish Hall and then, that afternoon, we operate what’s essentially a free community market where people can come in move down the aisles and select food stuffs, much like if they were grocery shopping, and that’s the primary emphasis of Holy Provisions, But we also send the Holy Grill out on the last Saturday of the month to serve hot, spirit-lifting meals to food insecure families with children that’s primarily done at Zion Lutheran in Deerfield Beach.
TMBA: A mutual friend of ours once said the poor will always be with us. What is your broader vision for not just comforting the poor but elevating them.
Fr. MA: In the Holy Grill Mobile Feeding Ministry we speak of feeding bodies and souls. There is no religious test either for volunteers or for individuals who come to receive food. We don’t turn away anyone but we’re also there to offer companionship, counsel and prayer. One of our core beliefs is loving as we are loved. What I would encourage people to understand is that, when we do that, when we love as we are loved, we encounter something special with the individuals that we serve. It’s been my experience, and it’s been the experience of volunteers, that our faith is intensified by being with those who are less fortunate. Our Lord spent an awful lot of time with the less fortunate and I think that’s a message to us that we need to we need to be out among the marginalized, among the poor, and care for them. There is enough love to go around.
If you missed the Video Podcast of the Holy Grill Mobile Feeding Ministry, it’s available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube Podcasts.