Corona Main Spanish Church Captures Thanksgiving Spirit
By Nicole Dominguez
Imagine looking over a crowd of 140 people, each with unique needs and faith walks, brought together by the desire for home-cooked food and fellowship. This past November, the Corona Main Spanish church hosted such an event with their Thanksgiving gathering, created to thank their neighbors. Food Pantry Director Paula Mendoza said, “The event was geared toward connecting with our community.”
This was not the first Thanksgiving community dinner or the first community activity held by the church. Corona Main Spanish church has been an active member of the community through a community resource fair. This made their mark on the community, yet the church saw that it wasn’t meeting a core need: unity. From that revelation, the church team embarked on hosting small groups and dinners to create meaningful connections with the community.
Of the 90 members present, 60 took an active role by helping to cook, serve, clean, set up, run the sound system, or register guests. Some members opposed an event not focused on the congregation, believing the community would be disinterested in the event. The weather report was another potential obstacle, forecasting rain and winds. However, God blessed the event by providing excellent weather and doubling the numbers from last year.
As community members left that evening, they departed with a greater sense of community and a frozen turkey donated by the pantry. Many commented on the sense of belonging they found and how loved they felt to receive such focused attention. Last year’s Thanksgiving paved the way for 10 baptisms, further supporting the church’s outreach efforts.
Mendoza reflected on the importance of thinking outside the box and anchoring each effort in God: “God will bring it all together and provide resources to make it work because it is not our event but His. God was the one who hand-picked all the volunteers and all those who joined and participated. We have humbly created momentum with this event, and now comes the responsibility of asking God to lead the next steps in moving forward.”