Our Story

Before the flood, the downtown congregations of Montpelier had their own quiet rhythm. Each week, one church would open its kitchen and serve a community meal — Christ Episcopal on one day, Trinity United Methodist on another, Bethany UCC, the Unitarian Church, and St. Augustine’s Catholic Church each taking their turn. It was a generous tradition, but a dispersed one. Five churches, five kitchens, five separate efforts.

Then came July 2023.

When the Winooski River flooded downtown Montpelier, it didn’t spare the churches. Kitchens went offline. Dining halls filled with water. The infrastructure that had quietly sustained a community meal program for years was suddenly gone — except in one place. Christ Episcopal Church still had a working kitchen, and rather than suspend the meals entirely, the five congregations did something they hadn’t done before: they showed up together.

What followed surprised everyone. Cooking alongside people from different traditions, sharing a single space and a common purpose, the volunteers discovered something that separate operations hadn’t quite produced — a sense of real community, not just among the people being served, but among the people doing the serving. When the repairs to the other buildings were finally complete, nobody wanted to go back to doing it alone.

So they didn’t.

The partnership continued out of Christ Episcopal through 2024. By early 2025, it was clear the space had grown too small for what the program had become. Trinity United Methodist, with its larger kitchen and dining room, offered a new home. After completing electrical upgrades, Trinity opened its doors as the new location for the meals. St. Augustine’s, following the guidance of their priest, returned to hosting their Friday meal in their own facility — but the connection and the spirit of collaboration remain.

In June 2025, the remaining four congregations — Bethany UCC, Christ Episcopal, Trinity United Methodist, and the Unitarian Church of Montpelier — made it official. They formed a nonprofit organization: The Community Table of Montpelier. A governing board with representatives from all four churches now stewards the work. The 501(c)3 status means the organization can seek support beyond its founding communities, because the need has grown well beyond what any single congregation — or even four — can meet alone.

Today, nearly 400 meals are served each week, Monday through Thursday, at Trinity Church on Main Street. The doors open at 8 a.m. No one is turned away.

A flood brought these communities together. They decided to stay.