The ‘giving’ part of the day

Published 11:22 pm Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Jack and Teresa Peterson of Mountlake Terrace plan to spend another Thanksgiving Day at Westgate Chapel, a large Edmonds church that offers a free community dinner.

The Petersons, who are blind, are set to be driven to the meal by the church transportation team, whose members good-naturedly fight over who gets to go pick them up.

“This will be our fourth dinner at Westgate, and we just love it. It’s a godsend to us,” Teresa Peterson said. “They don’t treat us like that poor little blind couple, but rather like the honored guests.”

The sentiment pleases John Murphy, who serves as chairman of the volunteer drivers. That’s what it’s all about, he said.

“The dinner is our way to give something back to the community,” Murphy said. “It’s just an invitation from our family to yours.”

Westgate Chapel, with a congregation of about 2,000, isn’t looking to make its church family grow, Murphy said. The dinner, which includes a performance by a Christian comedian and prayer before the meal, isn’t really an evangelical event, he said.

“But the blessings to us are great,” Murphy said. “You always get more than you give.”

What the church gives is notable.

A traditional Thanksgiving meal is served family style at tables set up in the church’s large multipurpose room. Last year the church fed nearly 1,400 guests in three shifts and expects to feed a similar number this year.

Westgate Chapel’s big commercial kitchen saw crews start work on Monday, with volunteers roasting 76 turkeys. At about 25 pounds each, that’s nearly a ton of turkey.

The shopping list also includes 2,000 rolls, 80 pounds of butter, 200 pounds of potatoes, 100 pounds each of onions and celery, tubs of whipped cream and 160 pumpkin pies.

More than 400 people from the church volunteer to help with the meal, and many others do the shopping, Murphy said.

Guests at the church Thursday will be treated to hors d’oeuvres in the lobby, along with family photo portraits, crafts for children and, if needed, a visit to the church’s food bank and free clothing distribution room. To encourage participation in the 11 a.m. dinner seating, the church also plans to give away a Nintendo Wii system as a door prize.

Church members serve as table hosts, fostering conversation during the dinner. Translation is available through church members who speak Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, Mandarin, Korean and several Filipino languages.

“Our church is ethnically diverse. It’s not a Scandinavian group anymore,” Murphy said. “We have become diverse by being inviting, by having a lot of community outreach.”

Murphy, 58, and his wife Claire are Edmonds residents and have been members at Westgate Chapel for 27 years. Their three grown children also volunteer to help with the church’s annual dinner, which has become the family’s Thanksgiving tradition.

John Murphy, who owns an information management consulting firm in Edmonds, is on the church’s board of elders. Claire Murphy is on the church staff as an administrative assistant for emergency services, which oversees the food and clothing banks that are open to the community on Thursdays.

For his part in the church dinner, Murphy supervises 15 drivers who will travel as far north as Marysville and south into King County to give rides to dinner guests.

Jack and Teresa Peterson are among the transportation crew’s favorite regular attendees, Murphy said.

“They are such gracious people,” he said. “The Petersons don’t see all the Thanksgiving decorations we have up at the church, but they feel the joy and the love we have for them.”

And that’s why Westgate Chapel goes all out on Thanksgiving, Murphy said.

“The dinner is a way to express our thanks to the Lord,” he said. “It’s the ‘giving’ part of the word Thanksgiving.”

Reporter Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427 or gfiege@heraldnet.com.