The Rev. Tony Striegle and Robin Striegle, of the Webster City Church of Christ, extend a warm welcome to everyone wishing to help prepare, serve or simply enjoy eating a traditional Christmas dinner on their own terms. The meal will be served Christmas Day.

Following up the success of its Thanksgiving communal meal, Webster City Church of Christ is making final preparations to host a Community Christmas meal.

The Rev. Tony Striegle and his wife, Robin, are the “official” hosts of the event, but quickly point out many others, working behind the scenes, play a key role in making the event possible.

“We’re grateful for all volunteers, and want to provide different levels of involvement where they can make their contribution, and feel good about it,” the Rev. Striegle said.

For some, that’s baking a pie and dropping it at the front door of the church.

“Those folks may have a house full of family for Christmas, but still want to be a part of the community meal,” he said. “This is a level of involvement they can support.”

Others, perhaps those with more time or energy, will be found in the kitchen cooking or washing dishes.

“No one wants to be alone at Christmas,” he said, “so when the kids have finally left home, Christmas can be a sad time for mom and dad. They need to be around people and see families enjoying themselves here. We provide that for them.”

For Striegle, dirty dishes are not to be missed after a communal meal.

“There’s real importance in doing dishes together, so I always want to get back there and listen to what people are saying. They’ll come out with things that might never be said in other settings.”

For some volunteers, there’s almost no limit to their involvement. For the generosity of their own personal time and service to others, Chris and Sarah Anderson, of Webster City, set a high standard.

“You know what kind of friend you’ve got when he shows up to smoke turkeys at 6 a.m.,” laughs the Rev. Striegle. “That’s what Chris Anderson did to ensure there would be plenty of turkey for the church’s Thanksgiving meal.

“We know the Andersons will be here, whether we need donations of food, money or labor.” Robin Striegle addes, “Chris is the best gofer there is. Whatever we need, he gets in the car and brings it to us.”

Those attending the meal also have their own levels of involvement.

“We work hard to make everyone feel comfortable here”, the Rev. Striegle noted, “but this is still a church, and lots of people today won’t go into a church for any reason. We know they may have had a bad experience, or still feel the hurt from something that was said or done to them at church.”

He added, “We open with a prayer, but this isn’t a church service; there’s no proselytizing.

“Some people have a need to be with others, so coming here for a home-cooked meal is just right. Others are more comfortable picking up a meal and taking it home. Still others have no way to get here, so we provide home delivery. Again, we allow people to participate at the level that meets their needs.”

He cited another example from this year’s Thanksgiving meal.

“We had four high-school-age people come together. We don’t know if they had a home, a family, or a meal available to them elsewhere, but they clearly wanted to be with their peers, so we were glad to provide for them.”

Besides a home-cooked meal of baked ham, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, fruit salad, Christmas cookies, pies and cakes, there will be gift bags and loaves of bread for people to take home.

This year’s Community Christmas Meal will be served at Webster City Church of Christ, 900 Des Moines Street, Wednesday, December 25, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. For those who wish home delivery of meals, phone Robin Striegle at 515-450-7651 a day in advance, if possible. Meals will be delivered anytime between 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. There is no charge for the meals.