Faith Lutheran has had a 40-year relationship with St. John’s Soup Kitchen in Newark. Many years ago, a friend of Faith suggested to Pastor Mac that St. John’s might be a good place for us to get involved. It’s amazing how God works!

St. John’s Soup Kitchen serves about 500 meals a day. Anyone who is hungry is welcome to share a meal. St. John’s regularly welcomes struggling families, seniors on a fixed income, the working poor, veterans, people with disabilities, those who are homeless, and anyone who wants a good hot meal and some friendly conversation.

St. John’s Soup Kitchen is located on the property of St. John’s Roman Catholic Church, which is a historic building on Mulberry Street in Newark, dating from 1826. The Soup Kitchen operates under the auspices of the Diocese of Newark.

Meals are served outdoors to the men on nice days, with one wing of the church having been converted to a Men’s Dining Hall and used during the colder months or for special holiday meals. The Women’s and Children’s Center is also an indoor facility available daily that allows women, children and the handicapped to be served restaurant style in a safe haven. The Soup Kitchen also has a Health Clinic offering special services with help from The Rutgers School of Nursing (training for student nurses), The NJ Commission for the Blind (once a month free exams and glasses), Beth Israel Hospital (HIV testing), and volunteer doctors, nurses and students.

St. John's Soup Kitchen is able to fulfill its mission daily because of volunteers and donations received from various community and religious organizations, businesses, and individuals.

Soup Kitchen volunteers help prepare and serve lunch. Caravanning to Newark from New Providence, volunteers from Faith carpool and park in the small parking lot adjacent to St. John's. Volunteers unload car trunks filled with baked goods and other items needed for the day. Then it’s time to go to work making whatever is on the menu - chili in the fall and winter and an outdoor barbecue in the spring and summer. Meals are packaged in takeaway containers for easy distribution. Fresh fruit, sandwiches, soup, and salad are also available for guests to eat there or take with them.  After all have been fed, we clean up and head home. We usually arrive back at Faith in the early afternoon, by 1:00 p.m. 

Please note that some flexibility in how things are done might be needed in response to the Covid pandemic, but the idea is the same--to feed the hungry.

If you can follow directions and work as part of a team, stand on your feet for a bit, and serve with kindness of heart and word, you will be plenty qualified to volunteer at Soup Kitchen.

Join Faith Lutheran as our regular monthly visits on the second Saturday of the month resume on September 10. Bakers and servers are needed. We will meet at church at 9:15 a.m. and drive over together to Newark.

Bakers, please have your individually bagged goodies marked "Soup Kitchen" in the church kitchen before 9:00 a.m. Saturday so we have time to load the cars. 

Look for the signup sheet on the kiosk. Please also feel free to contact our coordinators with any questions: Mike Warin ([email protected]), Joanne Warin ([email protected]) and Désirée Bouchat ([email protected]). 

A reminder that 6th, 7th, and 8th grade confirmands are always welcome but must have a parent or other adult with them.

When the pandemic shutdown began in March 2020, Pastor Jane hopped on the phone immediately to inquire how we could best help Soup Kitchen. At that time, many people in our Family of Faith were greatly concerned about how people who lost jobs, were homeless, or didn't have paid time off would be cared for during this difficult time.

Faith and our community of neighbors and friends began to provide plain sandwiches and goodies on Thursday mornings to be distributed to patrons as additional nourishment. Now, many thousands of sandwiches later, there is still plenty of need. We will continue to provide sandwiches going forward. 

Bring your sandwiches and donations to Faith any time before 8:45 a.m. on Thursday mornings. Click here for sandwich-making directions. All are welcome to help, including friends, family and co-workers. (Confirmands, if you make sandwiches, please keep track of your own hours and submit to Mrs. Clapcich.)

To support people in need to live with dignity in the community.

Inspired by the Spirit of Christ, St. John’s family seeks to serve persons who struggle with mental health issues, addictions, homelessness, and poverty in the City of Newark. We seek to provide support for this community through addressing the developmental requirements of individuals in need.

Through personal encounter, we serve them and seek to overcome the marginalization they experience that obstructs the realization of their human dignity.

Click here to visit the St. John's Soup Kitchen website.