Full Article can be found HERE Church survives by selling Indian tacos
http://cjonline.com/news/local/2012-04-27/church-survives-selling-indian-tacos
Church survives by selling Indian tacos
Posted: April 27, 2012 – 10:23pm
By Phil Anderson
THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL
Barely hanging on with only eight regular attendees and no pastor, Sullivan Chapel Indian United Methodist Church in North Topeka is hoping for better days around the bend.
In particular, members are hoping more Indians in the Topeka area will make their way to the church, just as they did some 40 years ago.
“In May of 1969, the church received its 100th member,” said Cindy Martin, 53, one of the regular attendees at Sullivan Chapel, as she thumbed through a book of official church records. “Too bad we don’t have that many now.”
The church, while open to anyone, tailors its ministry to the Indian population, incorporating cultural aspects into its services and programs.
As the small church at 1937 N.E. Madison struggles to survive, it pays its utility bills in large measure from funds raised through the sales of Indian tacos at $5 a pop from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the first Friday of every month. The next such sale will be this coming Friday.
Several other food items are sold along with Indian tacos. The sales started about a dozen years ago.
“It’s our major fundraiser,” said Martin, while taking a break after the lunch rush at the April sale. “Basically, it pays our utilities. Right now, if we didn’t have that, we wouldn’t be able to pay our utilities.”
Martin, who has attended Sullivan Chapel for about 21 years, said Indian taco sales used to generate about $200 or $300. But after an article in the Winter 2010 Topeka Magazine, sales jumped to the $400 to $500 range.
“There was one time when we were a couple dollars shy of $600,” she said.
Many customers have the Indian taco sale dates circled on their calendars and call in orders to carry back to their workplaces.
The number is (785) 249-3233. That is Martin’s number, not the church’s. Sullivan Chapel doesn’t have a land line anymore, she said.
About six people take part in preparing food for the Indian taco sales, including Martin’s husband, John, 72, who fulfills some of the church’s pastoral duties as a lay missioner.
In spite of the sparse numbers coming to the church at present, he said he sees “great potential for growth.”
John Martin said he was hoping outreach projects, such as a food pantry, will help Sullivan Chapel reach out to the Indian community. He said some 15 tribes are represented in the Topeka area.
“At one time,” John Martin said, “this place was literally packed. I’ve been here about 30 years altogether. In that time, I’ve seen a lot of ’em come and go.”
Because he isn’t an ordained minister, John Martin can’t offer communion or do weddings and funerals.
Some of those tasks are being handled by Jeremy Bays, who formerly was a minister at Fairlawn Heights Wesleyan Church in Topeka.
Bays, 41, said he felt called by God to begin ministering to Indians in the Kansas and Oklahoma areas. That is what has brought him, his wife, Laurie, and their three wonderful children to Sullivan Chapel, he said.
“I’ve been a full-time pastor for 23 years,” Bays said. “I’m not Methodist — in fact, I’m not a part of this church. I left the pastorate a year and a half ago to start a Native American ministry in Kansas and Oklahoma.”
He said he connected with the congregation when he “was at a powwow and saw the need here at Sullivan Chapel.”
Bays inquired whether he could be of service to the church and was welcomed to be a part of the congregation.
“The church has a long history of touching lives,” Bays said. “I think the mission is not yet complete. We’re honestly in a lull right now, but in the next six months to a year, I see a lot of great things happening. I think this church has a definite and direct mandate to reach the Native American community.”
Most of the attendees at Sullivan Chapel have at least some Indian blood. The church, with Indian-themed decorations, uses a hymn book with songs in various tribal languages.
In addition to raising funds from the Indian taco sales, Sullivan Chapel also receives support from other United Methodist churches in the Topeka area.
Sullivan Chapel, which was founded in October 1961, is part of the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference of the United Methodist Church, which boasts approximately 6,000 members in 84 congregations. Several of the churches are more than 100 years old.
Oklahoma is home to the vast majority of the denomination’s congregations, with one church in Dallas and three churches and one fellowship in Kansas.
The church is named after the Rev. Jesse Sullivan, a pastor in the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference of the United Methodist Church, who was instrumental in starting the congregation in North Topeka.
