Remembering the good old days before the church went high tech

This is an old photo taken at UALC on Thanksgiving Day--maybe 10 years ago. I don't know what's happening at your church or how other Christians stock food pantries for the poor, but I miss the days of this photo. Now in November we pick up smallish, printed bags with a list of ingredients/food items that will NOT be brought to the front of the church, but quietly whisked off to Lutheran Social Services for the food pantry before the actual holiday. Forgive me staff and pastors, but I think the "high tech, high touch" church has lost even "the touch," the personal involvement, and now it's all about making sure we follow the rules and check the church web page. In seasons past, I usually picked up $10-20 of non-perishable goods a week at the supermarket during November and put them in bags I kept in the kitchen. It helped me think about those who needed help. We were told how much more the food pantry could buy if we just wrote a check. But I also liked the idea I was supporting a local business who employed people who were taking the bus from parts of the city we suburbanites never see, or the truckers out on the free-ways, or the warehouse employees, or those who work in the processing factories and on farms to make sure we all can over-eat on a holiday. Call me crazy, but I liked seeing bags of groceries at the altar. I never remembered the sermon, but I knew my story.