Lisa Allgood, Executive Presbyter
“We who had sweet fellowship together walked in the house of God in the throng.” – Psalm 55:14
For more than 80 years – yes, you read that correctly – for more than 80 years, the saints at Bethel-Murdoch Presbyterian Church in Loveland have made ice cream.
They have sold it, annually, mostly in a single weekend from the church parking lot. This ice cream, this monumental effort, my friends, is legendary in the Presbytery of Cincinnati. Not to mention to the surrounding neighbors and wandering Presbyterian pastors who know about their secret.
They make gallons of ice cream. Gallons. In 4 flavors: vanilla, chocolate, chocolate chip, and strawberry. They’ve held taste tests to try out new ways of making so much ice cream, and had contests to determine the best way to make their signature ice cream.
You can tell they aren’t satisfied with the status quo, not this group.
So this year, they took it even farther – on the road. This year, after completing the Center for Learning’s Living Churches Initiative, they decided to take their ice cream on the road to meet new friends. I caught up with them on June 3 at the Miles Greenwood Historical Fire Apparatus Fire Truck Show, where they had set up a booth – complete with county public health permits – and sold 300 pints of ice cream under a great tent with a super cool banner. They gave away pens and Frisbees and bags and spoke to people and played around some actually very cool antique fire trucks.
And they’re going to do it twice more this year at other events, as well.
But most importantly – they made 300 new friends. And they did it under the banner that proclaimed who they were – the Bethel-Murdoch Presbyterian Church. The Church Who Took It on the Road, spreading sweet joy in really good ice cream and the sweet Word of God.