When Tudy Fennern said "yes" to the unknown four years ago, she had no way of knowing whether the new ministry she had agreed to coordinate would fall flat or do well.

Feeding the community a weekly meal was an ambitious project. Would people respond?

To give the ministry, called The Banquet, a solid start, Trinity Lutheran Church's own groups volunteered to fill the first two months' worth of volunteers. What would happen after that, no one knew.

Well, "God knew," Fennern said.

So when the first phone calls started coming in, organizations and businesses and churches calling to say, "put us on the schedule," Fennern would get so excited that she'd dash down the hall to the office of Trinity's senior pastor, the Rev. Steve Sathre, to tell him.

Since 2005, The Banquet has served more than 58,000 meals. The diners have been people who need food, people who need companionship and people who need to serve others.

Furthermore, the idea has captured the hearts of a wide swath of Bismarck-Mandan people; close to 60 churches and religious groups of various denominations, businesses and professional groups, schools, and individuals and service groups have come forward to serve this "sacred meal," as Fennern calls it.

By February, Fennern's weekly calendar is nearly full for the year without having to call and beat the bushes for volunteers.

"It's been a success, more than we hoped for," she said. "This ministry has uplifted the whole community.

"This is a gift from God."

Word of The Banquet has spread beyond Bismarck-Mandan in ways that Fennern, Sathre and Mike Baltzer, chairman of The Banquet committee, could not have foreseen.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has highlighted The Banquet's ministry among a series of glossy information cards featuring ELCA ministries, even placing its image on a billboard in Denver.

But Fennern, Sathre and Baltzer were still astounded to find The Banquet featured in the publication "Lutheran World Information," which goes to members of the Lutheran World Federation, of which the ELCAis a member.

"It's not often that a local charity gets into an international publication that goes around the globe," Sathre said.

"You envisioned it," Baltzer said to Sathre. "And without Tudy, it never would have happened."

For himself, Baltzer said, "I know a lot of people out there I never knew before. Everybody here that serves wants to do it again."

"The Banquet is a wonderful opportunity for both those who serve and those who are served," Sathre said. He himself eats there most weeks. "Nowhere else do you have this significant experience. This is such a meaningful thing for people to do. They're glad they did."

"It's such a warm feeling," he said. Everyone who comes is welcomed with a smile and shown hospitality - "it's not a handout," he said.

"It's a connection with people," Fennern said. Everyone who came here at first were strangers, she said. "After a few months, they were friends."

As the economy sank, The Banquet last summer saw an increase in the numbers of people who showed up, Fennern said. Conversely, this severe winter was a bad one for people to be able to get out to the meal.

Like many other ministries, The Banquet is feeling the pinch of the economy; donations have declined, Fennern said. Each meal costs about $700 to feed approximately 300 people. Any food unused is not wasted, but goes to other local charities, such as Ruth Meiers Hospitality House or Manchester House, she said.

"It's been a journey," Fennern said. "This really makes a change in people's lives."

"(God) is doing his work through us," Sathre said.

(Reach reporter Karen Herzog at 250-8267 or karen.herzog@bismarcktribune.com.)

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Riverside Harvest thrives

The weekly Riverside Harvest ministry in Bismarck continues to thrive, said the Rev. Randy Upgren of Charity Lutheran Church in Bismarck, which initiated the community meal in 2007.

On Tuesdays, volunteers serve a meal at Riverside School in south Bismarck, open to all and particularly focused on the Riverside neighborhood.

Groups outside of Charity continue to become involved in volunteering at the meal, he said.

The tough winter somewhat affected the numbers of people attending, because many walk to the school for the meal, he said. But with milder weather, the numbers have started upward again. Donations have remained steady, as well, he said.

Riverside Harvest has added prayer partners to the Tuesday meal, in which volunteers will come and pray with people, Upgren said. And in the past four weeks, Upgren said that Charity has seen new faces at its northside church from among those who attend the Harvest meal.

That means that people are starting to feel safe with their relationship with the church, he said.

A major goal is to establish those relationships, he said, "to let the Holy Spirit work."

Riverside Harvest is adding a Web site so that people will be able to donate online, Upgren said. The Tuesday meal is served from 5:45 to 7 p.m.