Revered recipes for chicken salad, barbecue, deviled eggs and more have been dusted off once again in preparation for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church traditional May Luncheon fundraiser.

Rev. Andrew McLarty, who became the priest of St. Paul’s in November, said the almost 150-year-old tradition is returning to the church this week. Orders are due Wednesday, while the luncheon will be pick-up only from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday.

Many of the recipes, McLarty said, are so beloved that they haven’t been changed in years.

“There are set in stone, iron clad recipes that are not changed, including a specific chicken salad, a specific barbecue style and things like that,” McLarty said. “There’s a specific way the deviled eggs are made.”

Luncheon steering committee member Bridget Pieschel has been a parishioner at St. Paul’s for 44 years. Many of the recipes, she said, have not changed since she joined the church. Volunteers put great emphasis on keeping the details the same year after year.

“When I say the recipe is revered… you have to use homemade mayonnaise,” Pieschel said.

Every year, she said, about 100 volunteers get together to form committees for each portion of the luncheon. This includes a subcommittee for celery chopping, a committee for cooking chicken, another for chopping the chicken, another for mixing the chicken salad and more.

Even a single part of the meal, the deviled eggs, require multiple days to put together, Pieschel said. This year, volunteers will be putting together 1,200 deviled eggs for the luncheon.

Pieschel said the luncheon feeds about 500 people plate lunches, though it varies from year to year. Additional volunteers serve the meal. This includes both parishioners and community members that come back year after year, she said.

McLarty said he has been “overwhelmed” seeing the volunteers at St. Paul’s work together on the luncheon. He called the whole process a “beautiful ballet,” and said he has enjoyed getting to watch his parishioners get excited about their signature meal.

“Literally every moment for this week, our big kitchen has been scheduled out to accommodate work crews, volunteers who are coming to work on their section,” McLarty said.

Whole smoked pork butts are also sold as part of the fundraiser. Bubba Tom Wolford slow cooks the barbecue in honor of the late Tom Wolford and Todd Gale. McLarty is also smoking an additional 25 pork butts, allowing the church to sell 50 pork butts this year.

Also, during the luncheon, Pieschel said, the Episcopal Church Women’s Group will be managing a bake sale that includes baked goods from every church member. The bake sale only accepts cash or checks, she said.

Pieschel said the money raised by the bake sale goes into a fund supporting the women’s committee’s selected nonprofits, while funds raised by the luncheon go toward the church’s general fund and any nonprofits it has elected to support that year.

Past projects have included supporting Helping Hands, the Golden Triangle Regional Homeless Coalition and Loaves and Fishes, but the funds have also gone toward repairs for the church and its school. Last year, Pieschel said, the church used the funds raised to repair the church organ, which was damaged by a lightning strike.

“It has been a personal blessing for me to be a part of this since I came to St. Paul’s, and I feel so good every year when we get to the end of luncheon day, because I know that we’ve accomplished as a huge group, what we need to do for the community,” Pieschel said.

The pick-up only luncheon will include boxed chicken salad and barbecue plates for $15, whole boston butts for $35 and the Episcopal Church Women’s Group annual bake sale. Orders should be submitted online in advance at stpaulscolumbus.dioms.org.

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