Chef Stories – God Stories: A Wedding Menu with a Prayer

Imagine standing at the altar of a church on your wedding day with your bride ready to take vows as husband as wife. Without warning, the back door of the church opens and in marches a group people led by an angry looking woman. They march into the sanctuary, down the aisle and up to the altar. The woman climbs the steps and announces to the bride, “He’s still married to me!” She rounds on the groom thrusting court papers at him states, “And you’re served.”

This happened in Santa Barbara and my cops responded to sort the mess out. The wedding went on as planned with an police officer standing in as one of the groom’s men to keep the peace! Not a good start to a lifetime of happiness. Most wedding plans don’t include a strategy to call the police. Wedding plans do include food as part of the marriage celebration. If you call Belleci’s Catering on the Monterey Peninsula in California you will get a lot more than a fancy dinner. Andy and his wife, Terrie, are Christians that live out their faith in their workplace. Cooking is more than a business; it is a means to ministry. This might not be a cop story, but it is an amazing story of faith, forgiveness and how the Spirit of God calls us to ministry and, through us, changes lives forever. The food is really good too!

In 1975, Andy and Terrie were on the verge of getting divorced. Terrie started going to church at a local Catholic parish and talked Andy into joining her on a marriage encounter weekend. Andy was not a regular church attendee but he went to confession during the retreat for the first time in many years. He told the priest not to get his hopes up because he had no intention of returning to the faith because of one weekend. The priest was patient, told Andy there was no pressure and Andy gave his confession. Later on, Andy was by himself completing an exercise where he wrote a letter to his wife telling her everything that was on his mind. In the middle of writing this letter, Andy felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in a way that was nothing like he had ever felt before. All the anger, resentment and unwillingness to forgive his wife fell away. A short time later, Terrie showed up and Andy said, “It’s over.” Terrie started to panic and Andy was quick to explain what that meant. In a few months, Andy and Terrie will celebrate 45 years of marriage.

Andy’s reputation as a chef is well known, however; he does not see his popularity as a culinary master (My assessment!) as worth anything. Andy watches people spend thousands of dollars and countless hours preparing for their wedding day and very little time learning how to communicate. “I don’t want to be popular; I want to see marriages flourish.” When Andy meets a couple to plan their menu, he always asks this question, “Oh by the way, have you done any pre-marital counseling?” Andy takes the time to tells his story. He shares the hope he has in Christ and how God saved his marriage. Over the years, Andy and Terrie provided marriage “tutoring” for free to hundreds of couples. Catering is more than a job, it is a means to ministry.

Andy’s ministry does not stop at planning a menu and offering marriage tutoring. He is intentional about gathering with the husband and wife together during the reception for the single purpose of praying a blessing over the couple. Andy recognizes that throughout scripture the offering of a blessing is a message of hope. It is something we are not accustomed to doing in our culture today. He only takes a few minutes, but for Andy, it is the proper dessert for a commitment for a lifetime. “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6: 24-26)