The Friendship Plate

We received a pleasant surprise last week. Our friends, Scott and Mary, telephoned to inform us that they were on their way over and that they had something for us. They offered no hints as to what the surprise was.

It happened to be a plate full of Pineapple Upside-Down Biscuits. They got the recipe from Paula Dean’s Food Network show, Paula's Home Cooking. As good as those biscuits were, and as worthy of a write-up, I am not writing about the biscuits. I am writing about the plate.

The Friendship Plate was started on the first Sunday in January of 2005 by Kirk and Martha. (Kirk is our pastor and Martha his better-half. And don’t think bad of me for calling the Pastor by his name instead of his title. To me, Friend Kirk ranks above Pastor Kirk, and so I and everyone else simply call him Kirk.)

Anyway, back to the plate. Here it is:

It reads:

"This plate shall have no owner
For its journey never ends.
It travels in the circle
Of our family and our friends.

It carries love from home to home
For everyone to share.
The food that's placed upon it
Is filled with love and care.



So please enjoy what's on this plate,
Then fill it up again,
And pass along the love it holds,
To family and your friends."


Kirk and Martha thought that this was a great idea for Friendship United Methodist Church and it was and is. Along with the plate of goodies comes a journal in which the recipients can write down what they think of our church or any fond memories from the church and then pass the journal along with something fresh-from-the-kitchen to someone else and so on and so forth.

Anyone who loves our church and reads this journal and finishes it dry-eyed must have no heart. The plate’s first lucky recipient was the newest family at the church. They passed it on to a very special lady who has been a member of FUMC for forty or so years. Since then it has made stops at the homes of other newbies and other long-time members as well as a couple of homes like ours which are somewhere in the middle. The things written in this journal reinforce what everyone already knows: Friendship is a very loving church and is very aptly named.

Tonight I am baking my almost known "ChunkyChocolatePeanutButterBars".

Too bad for the Vines that they have already received the Friendship plate once. They paid some big bucks for a plate of these bars at last years United Methodist Men bake sale, so I’m sure they would have loved to get a plate for free.