A quick (as in 0.54 seconds) Google search for “home cooked meal in college” returns 97 million results. Ranging from quick dorm-friendly microwave recipes to forums where college moms seek tips on shipping home-cooked meals across the states, the results make clear that college students are thinking a lot about food. In a 2021 survey by a well-known pasta company, 55% of college students said home-cooked meals are the thing they miss second most about home, behind only family (77%).

Grace, Ocala, has partnered with Episco Gators, the Episcopal student ministry at the University of Florida, to alleviate that aching hunger. For over a decade, Grace has served as one of many area churches who provide Sunday dinners to students who have gathered for worship, fellowship and a real home-cooked meal. This partnership also connects the Diocese of Florida, home to the Episco Gators, and the Diocese of Central Florida, home to Grace.

For years, Annette Holland, longtime member of Grace, would cook a meal on the third Sunday of each month before making the 45-minute drive to the University of Florida, where she served students dinner. When Holland was first approached by the Episco Gators ministry, she had two college-aged daughters. While they were not at UF, it made the ministry feel even more important to her. “I knew what a meal meant to college students, and I wanted to help,” she said.

After many years of faithful service, Holland turned the ministry over to Lynn Noble two years ago. Since then, Noble has worked to expand the team and continue the ministry. Noble explained that while Grace is no longer providing meals once a month, they still do it several times each semester. “I used to teach high school, so I knew I would love being around the students,” she said. “We’ve been able to have some really neat conversations with them, hearing their stories and learning about their lives.”

The Rev. Mary Delancey, deacon at Grace, has gone to serve dinner to the Episco Gators several times. Delancey explained that while many of the students grew up in The Episcopal Church, many grew up in other traditions or outside of the church. “These students understand that the foundation to evangelism is fellowship,” she said.

While serving the students is the goal, these young people have provided Delancey with something in return: hope. “It’s amazing to see how committed these students are to their faith, to each other and to the Episcopal tradition,” she said. “People who worry about the future of the church must not know many young people!”

One of our new priests in the diocese is proof that the seeds planted during Episco Gators’ dinners can bear much fruit. The Rev. Garcia Barnswell-Schmidt, now Lower School chaplain at Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy in Melbourne, first received her call to holy orders while an Episco Gator many years ago. “First they fed us spiritually, and then they fed us physically,” she said.

While neither Grace Church nor Barnswell-Schmidt knew it at the time, many of the meals prepared by Grace gave her something more than simply home-cooked food. “Being served by these parents and grandparents really taught me how to have an intergenerational ministry,” she said. “A lot of my inspiration in my current role as chaplain came from the foundation of faith-filled community and fellowship I received during those evening meals and worship services.”

To the people at Grace, preparing these dinners takes only a few hours of coordination and preparation, but the effects go so much further. “I wouldn’t be here without that ministry,” said Barnswell-Schmidt. “The things I learned there continue in the lives of the kids I serve now. Out of those meals grew something beautiful.”