Elizabeth Ferguson marks 5-year anniversary.
Food Service Director Elizabeth Ferguson recently celebrated her five-year anniversary on Wilshire’s staff. She started at the church in 2017 after 10-plus years in food service at SMU’s Perkins School of Theology.
Even after five years, Chef Elizabeth, as she is affectionately known at the church, considers herself the newbie of the Wilshire kitchen. “Many on the staff have been there for 10 or more years,” she says. “All of the kitchen staff cares about what they do. It’s important for us to know that we’re providing our services to forward Wilshire’s mission.”
Almost two years of Elizabeth’s Wilshire tenure have come during COVID-19. After the kitchen was basically shut down for several months, she helped launch Koinonia Café To Go in September 2020. The takeout service has continued as plans for the return of in-person dining have been made and then unmade due to the lingering pandemic.
While she and her team are eager for a return to more normal conditions, Elizabeth says Koinonia Café To Go “makes us feel like we’re continuing with our ministry, even with all the changes we’ve had to make. Our core full-time kitchen staff is here for the long haul, and even though we’re as frustrated as everybody else, this does keep our connection with what we do for the church going.”
“The food service business is often not particularly friendly,” Elizabeth says, “and you’re more likely to hear negative feedback than positive. Here at Wilshire it’s completely opposite. It’s very affirming.”
■ Drop Elizabeth a note of congratulations to eferguson@wilshirebc.org.