"There are a lot of hands that put it together and a lot of love that goes into it," said Richard Nolt, online pastor at Abundant Life Church in Birdsboro, when describing The Table, a free monthly community meal offered at the church. "It provides the community a place to come, relax, socialize and get to know each other."

The Table, a ministry of the church, is offered at 6 p.m. on the third Tuesday of the month. The next meal will take place on April 18, when baked ziti will be served along with homemade desserts.

Nolt, who leads the online ministry team as well as the church's social media presence, also has a love of cooking, which he puts into use at The Table. "You can't love to cook and not jump in to help," he shared.

The community meal program began last September at the suggestion of pastor Devin Blankenbiller. A team was then formed to run the ministry. "We put a couple of signs in the neighborhood and communicated it to our church members to let them know what we were doing," Nolt recalled. "We had a little fun with it, so we had a chili cook-off. Sixteen of our members made their own chili, and it was a competition. We also had chili as a meal. We try to do each meal with a little fun and entertainment to connect with people."

Since the church is housed in the former Birdsboro Elementary Center, the meals are prepared and served in what once was the school cafeteria. "We get to meet some of the people who worked at the old school in years past, and they tell us about the building, and there are some old teachers and maintenance workers that come in," Nolt noted. "It's a nice meal. Sometimes people hang out and socialize (after dinner)."

The ministry has grown since its formation, and now between 75 and 115 people attend The Table each month. "The other nice thing is we have 35 to 40 volunteers every single meal," Nolt pointed out. "We have a baking team that provides desserts. (Last month), 12 ladies in our church made 125 to 130 cupcakes."

In addition to eating dinner, children are invited to take part in a craft activity. Past crafts have included making gingerbread houses, coloring and decorating cookies to eat. The activity for April will include planting a flower seed in a pot to take home.

Future plans call for a graduation party to be held for June's meal. "Some people do not have the opportunity to have their own (parties)," Nolt said. "We have 15 or 20 seniors in our church alone. It will be a nice treat."

Nolt added that Helping Harvest (formerly the Greater Berks Food Bank) operates a food pantry at the same time as The Table in a separate room in the school building. Helping Harvest provides free food items for qualified residents.

Abundant Life Church is located at 400 W. Second St., Birdsboro. For more information, call 610-582-7474 or visit http://www.facebook.com/AbundantLifeBirdsboro or http://www.abundantlifebirdsboro.com.