For over 35 years, His Table has provided meals to those in need in Troy every Wednesday from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM. How did His Table start, and what has kept it going for so many years?
His Table was originally the vision of two members of Capital Christian Church in Troy: Richard McAvoy and Edward Blechner. Richard was a former taxi driver and chef who had a dream to feed the hungry and minister to the needy. Edward was a retired barber who was known for having a Bible (opened to the Roman’s Road) on a stand nearby as he cut hair. At 4:00 PM on January 11, 1989, His Table opened its doors on the corner of 101st Street and 5th Avenue.
Unfortunately, Richard was only able to cook for six weeks before he had to step down due to poor health. It was at this time that Pastor Joe and Donna Flynn began to oversee the ministry. Pastor Joe worked full-time at GE Silicones in Waterford, so Donna cooked the meal and Pastor Joe would join her after he got out of work at 5:00 PM. At 4:00 PM every Wednesday, Donna and the His Table staff would open the doors and begin with prayer. Any guests who arrived were welcome to join hands with the staff and pray, and the prayer circle grew every week. On the Wednesday before Christmas every year, Donna and the staff put on a big banquet and gave out gifts for all ages (His Table continues this tradition today). For the next 14 years, His Table continued in this fashion.
In 2003, His Table saw a couple major changes. First, Capital Christian Church—which had become Amazing Grace Assembly of God—needed to be demolished due to irreversible structural damage. Victorious Life Christian Church—located downtown at 1838 5th Avenue—invited Pastor Joe and Donna to host His Table out of its fellowship hall, and it has been hosted there ever since. Second, Pastor Joe retired from GE, which allowed him to join Donna and the rest of the His Table staff for prep and serving. It was also at this time that Pastor Joe began to do a 20-minute Scripture teaching before every meal. Pastor Joe typically taught out of the Gospels and specifically focused on the words of Jesus.
While His Table officially remained a ministry of Amazing Grace Assembly of God, functionally it became a part of Arise & Build Community Ministries—a non-profit founded in 1999 that served as the missions arm of Victorious Life Christian Church. In 2019, Pastor Tim Stockwell founded a new ministry under the Arise & Build umbrella called Edify. In addition to a young adult ministry and offering one-on-one discipleship to college students, Edify also focused on encouraging young people to serve those in need. His Table always had a need for cleanup volunteers, and Pastor Tim focused on recruiting young people (and others) for His Table cleanup. It was at this time that groups like RPI’s Chi Phi fraternity began to serve at His Table.
Following its St. Patrick’s Day Banquet In March 2020, His Table shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently retired and desiring to see His Table continue in some fashion, Christine (Chris) and Mark Strube volunteered to lead what was quickly nicknamed “His Table 2.0.” Under Chris and Mark’s leadership, in April 2020—just two weeks after shutting down—His Table started serving take-out meals outside of Victorious Life’s Fulton Street entrance. In the early going, these meals consisted of chicken salad and peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, a bag of chips, and bottled water. Eventually, longtime His Table cook Pedro Rodriguez returned, and hot meals joined the take-out rotation.
In October 2021—after a year and a half of serving only take-out meals—His Table reopened its doors and began serving sit-down meals once again. Chris and Mark Strube continued to oversee prep and serving, Pastor Joe returned to do the pre-meal Scripture teaching, and Pastor Tim continued to oversee cleanup. In April 2022—after 33 years of faithful service in the ministry—Pastor Joe and Donna Flynn retired from His Table. Pastor Tim began doing the pre-meal Scripture teaching, as well as praying with and counseling people at their request during the meal.
January 11, 2024 marked 35 years of His Table preaching the gospel in word and deed in Troy. Pastor Joe always viewed Luke 14:12-14 as His Table’s calling verses:
“12 Then Jesus said to his host, ‘When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’”
Jesus’ instructions here continue to guide His Table’s mission today. God began this ministry by calling Christians who loved Jesus and desired to answer His call to serve those in need. God continues this ministry by calling Christians who love Jesus and desire to answer His call to serve those in need. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” In the same way, we recognize that His Table isn’t “our” ministry—it’s God’s ministry, and He has placed us in our positions to steward it.
The Lord has provided both the people and the finances to keep this gospel-centered ministry going for over 35 years. We believe that—by keeping Jesus at the center of all we do—the Lord will allow this ministry to continue for many more years to come.