Good food and fellowship are offered each month during community dinners served at St. Peter United Church of Christ (UCC), located on Route 23 in Knauertown.

Community dinners are typically held on the last Friday of each month from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The meal is free, but a collection jar is available so that people can donate a freewill offering.

Community dinners began at St. Peter UCC in October of 2013. The idea was to offer a free meal to those with financial difficulties. Today, the dinners have evolved to serve people of all ages and backgrounds.

"If you can't afford a meal, come and get one, but that is not its intention (anymore)," stated church member Paul Baringer, who cooks the meal on-site. "It's meant to be a social event. You can sit down and have dinner and meet some new people."

While he is not a professional chef, Baringer said he loves to eat and try new foods, as well as prepare food for others. "Our pastor at the time came up with the concept of doing a community dinner," explained Baringer. "I have been the chef the whole time."

Church volunteers help prepare, serve and clean up after the meal.

For the dinner on Feb. 28, the menu included London broil, chicken wings, shrimp cocktail, mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. There were also assorted homemade desserts including chocolate pudding, rice pudding and brownies, as well as beverages, including coffee, hot tea and lemonade.

"(In March), corned beef and cabbage will be one of the options," Baringer noted. "For the Easter (community dinner, we will serve) ham and lamb."

Due to the drought and in order to preserve water, he noted, food is temporarily being served on paper plates since the dishes had to be washed both before and after the meal.

Baringer spends the day of the dinner cooking and preparing the menu, which varies each month. "I am usually here between 12 and 1 p.m.," he noted. "For Easter with the lamb, and for (the) Thanksgiving (dinner), I am here earlier in the day."

He noted that during the pandemic, the church did stop serving meals, but it did offer dinners-to-go on select days. "It used to be buffet style, but since COVID, we now serve the meal," Baringer explained. "You sit down, and someone will come to your table and take your order for you."

About 30 people of all ages attend the meal each month. This includes senior citizens, as well as young families with children. "There are usually some new (attendees) every time," Baringer stated.

On hand for February's meal was St. Peter UCC pastor Peter Detterline, who is also an amateur astronomer. Detterline brought a high-powered telescope to the church so that after dinner attendees could view the planet Venus in the night sky.

In addition to the community meal, the church offers an indoor/outdoor flea market on the second Saturday of every month from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Setup begins at 6 a.m. A fee is charged per space; no reservations are needed. Breakfast and lunch items are also available for purchase at the flea market.

The next community dinner will be held on Friday, March 28, and the next flea market is scheduled for Saturday, April 12. The Sunday service is held at 10:30 a.m.

For more information about the church, call the church office at 610-469-9690 or visit http://www.stpeterucc.org or www.facebook.com/stpeterunitedchurch. For GPS users, the church's address is 1920 Ridge Road, Pottstown.