Church holds pancake supper to prepare for Lent

By Megan Voss

Peter McNaught pours pancake batter onto a griddle at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Belleville, Ont. on Feb. 21. Although he is not a regular churchgoer, he enjoys helping out with various church activities and community events. Photo by Megan Voss

The atmosphere at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church was about as light and fluffy as the pancakes they were making.

Traditionally, Shrove Tuesday is the last day before Christians begin Lent – the 40 days before Easter, when some people do not eat anything that comes from an animal, such as meat, eggs and dairy.

Pancakes, sausages and juice were being served at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Belleville on Feb. 21.

Several people arrived early before the event began, donning aprons and getting the run-down of what to do for the evening. While a few people stood at tables, flipping pancakes, many others were dishing up plates with sausage and pancakes to serve to the people seated around the tables set up in the church basement.

Peter McNaught was among those who were working at the griddles. He only attends the church occasionally, but happily agreed to help make pancakes for the evening.

“Well, no pancakes came back!” he joked, after watching as a plate of sausages and pancakes were successfully delivered to an attendee. After fiddling around for a while with the amount of batter he poured onto the griddle, as well as the temperature, he was more confident about the pancakes being cooked all the way through as time went on.

And although Janis Drummond, who was selling cookies, is a regular attendee, she doesn’t follow the traditions of Lent either. Like McNaught, she helps out at the pancake supper as more of an outreach to the community.

Reverend Anne-Marie Jones was sporting an apron along with the rest of her volunteers.

“My job is to greet people as they come in,” she said, relieved as a few more people trickled into the room.

She was a bit concerned with the lower turnout than last year, but still in good spirits.

“There are about six or seven other churches in the area,” she said, noting that could be a reason for the smaller amount of people attending this time around.

A common theme for the evening was that it was simply a social gathering to enjoy sausage and pancakes. Jones explained that not many churches will follow the tradition of not eating anything that comes from an animal for Lent.

“Catholics will, though,” she said.