Blessings come in all sizes and flavors. Some blessings are anticipated; yet pleasing to the soul. Other blessings shower us unexpectedly, causing us to respond with jubilance and joy! This cookbook is in memory of Apostle Carol Ann Revelle, who brought many blessings to those who knew her and some who never discovered the source of the goodness and grace they received. As a servant of the Lord, certain blessings she extended were life changing. They brought hope to the lost. Other blessings shed light in dark places, where only the wisdom of God could bring change. All of these blessings are memorable. They are an example of a life blessed by God to bless others. Apostle Carol helped many to taste and see the blessings of God as she led the way by trusting in Him. May the vibrant spirit of God, that lived deep within her heart, continue to spread contagiously to all who were touched by her gifts and inspired by her love for God. Our hope and prayer is that many more will taste and see that the Lord is good, as we apply what Apostle Carol Revelle taught and shared through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Soup Kitchen for the Soul combines testimony with a challenging scriptural foundation and follows it with specific guidance on how you can get out of your church and make a difference in your community. Each chapter builds on a Bible story and the author's personal experience, and ends with thought questions, and then action questions. References include specific ways in which you can take action on what you have been studying in the book. This book is suitable for personal or small group study, or could be used effectively by an entire church to transform their ministry. In the introduction Crosby says: "Upon entering Seminary, I was required to serve in the community and begrudgingly accepted my assignment, choosing to serve in a soup kitchen. While serving in the soup kitchen, God revealed himself to me in a profound and miraculous way. It was in restudying the scriptures with this new heart knowledge of God that allowed me to see a message of a mission for His people that we lack a connection with today. I began asking, 'What if ... What if I'm not the only one who doesn't understand the whole mission God has planned for us? What exactly are we supposed to be doing? Where in the Bible can we find directives on our missions for God? What if I wrote a book about radically new old ways of doing the gospel?'" Soup Kitchen for the Soul is that book.

You are invited to a feast for the senses and the spirit! Thirty-four adventurous writers open their kitchens, their recipe files, and their hearts to illustrate the many unexpected ways that food draws us closer to God, to community, and to creation. All bring a keen eye and palette to the larger questions of the role of food--both its presence and its absence--in the life of our bodies and spirits. Their essays take us to a Canadian wheat farm, a backyard tomato garden in Cincinnati, an organic farm in Maine; into a kosher kitchen, a line of Hurricane Katrina survivors as they wait to be fed, a church basement for a thirty-hour fast; inside the translucent layers of an onion that transport us to a meditation on heaven, to a church potluck, and to many other places and ways we can experience sacramental eating. In a time of great interest and equal confusion over the place of food in our lives, this rich collection, which includes personal recipes, will delight the senses, feed the spirit, enlarge our understanding, and deepen our ability to "eat and drink to the glory of God." Featuring the writings of Robert Farrar Capon, Wendell Berry, Lauren Winner, Luci Shaw, Andre Dubus, Jeanne Murray Walker, Brian Volck, and many others, INCLUDING ORIGINAL RECIPIES!

When Joyce White moved to New York City from Alabama, she left small-town life behind and landed ajob as a food editor at a major women's magazine. Weekends, however, found her visiting churches in Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvestant, looking for a taste of home. Food has long been a part of the spiritual life of African-American churches, and what she found there, along with what she missed from home, was the comforting blend of cooking and fellowship that feeds both the body and soul. In this warm and joyful collection, White offers more than 150 recipes for the foods that worshipers look forward to after services, and she captures the spirit of these sociable meals with warm, conversational and occasionally poignant reflections from African-American churchgoers around the United States. "We don't just come to church service and leave," says a retired nurse who directs hospitality for a large church in Los Angeles. "Many of us stay here half the day. That way we get a chance to rub shoulders and see what is going on or going wrong with each other." From delicious renditions of classics such as Sugar-Crusted Biscuits to updated favorites such as Black Beans with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, as well as special fare for entertaining and Kwaanza, the pages of Soul Food are alive with the spirit and love of African-American churches -- and the terrific food to be found there.

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A collection of essays, poems, and stories from a soup kitchen writers' workshop The selections are funny, gritty and brutally honest, writing that attests to a raw spirituality formed and informed by life on the street. When these writers are given prompts like "It Was the Best Day," "So I Lied," "September Eleven," "My Best Mistake" or "In My Other Life," they hold nothing back. In his piece on "Recovering," Mackey reflects on how the writers' workshop has changed his life, he is now a licensed minister completing a book and a one-act play. Sometimes sweet and sometimes bitter, this collection is a nutritious "slice of life" from a writers' workshop that's truly in the soul-food business.