For more than four decades, Ruth Ashmore provided a simple service: a meal for a grieving family. But there is nothing simple about what she accomplished in the lives of the many people she touched over the years.
At 80 years old and a victim of Parkinson’s disease, Ashmore recently gave up her position as chairperson of the bereavement ministry at Taylors First Baptist Church. She was recognized for her 45 years of service.
AshmoreShe said she felt called to the ministry because it was something she could fit into her life as the stay-at-home mom of small children with a babysitter available on short notice.
“That was something I could do, and enjoyed doing, because I felt I was doing it for the Lord,” Ashmore said.
She coordinated home-cooked meals for families of church members after a death. She is the one who called other church members and told them what to prepare. If the meal was being served at the church, she would make sure the tables and chairs were set up. And no matter where the meal was served, if the family wanted it, she would also help serve the meal and clean up afterward. She said her committee provided as much food as was needed, and had served as many as 70 at one time.
With about 4,500 church members, she said she kept busy coordinating the meals. “There have been times where we had three in one day. They usually come in threes, I don’t know why,” Ashmore said.
She said serving those who are grieving is not something everyone feels comfortable with. “Some people just can’t do that, and others are especially good at it,” Ashmore said. “We have others who seem to enjoy being a help. Each person is different.”
She said her parents died while she was young, and that supplied her with the empathy to help others facing grief. “I guess that prepared me. You have to love people, and I guess that’s the main thing,” Ashmore said. “Sometimes you don’t know what to do. Some of these (deaths) are so tragic, but you just do what the Lord needs you to do. I felt like it was a ministry.”
The service provided by Ashmore was about much more than food. On several occasions, she said, church members who had stopped attending services starting showing up again on Sunday mornings after receiving one of those meals.
While no longer chairing the bereavement ministry, Ashmore still helps prepare the meals. “It was hard to give up. My family just insisted because of my health,” she said. “I don’t feel like I’ve done anything special.”