LEWISTON — Quick Bible quiz:

Who was Lydia? “Not only was Lydia very instrumental in the establishment of the early church,” said Vicki Timmerman, of First Presbyterian Church of Lewiston, “but each of us could identify with her in some way. She was a working woman. She owned her own business. She was the head of her household with familial relationships to maintain. She was a leader and worker in the church.”

The Lydia Society at First Presbyterian is made up of women in Timmerman’s congregation, offering various ministries in service to their church, including Angel Food ministries, which helps bring affordable food to anyone who would like to participate.

“We chose the name ‘Lydia’ because of Lydia in the Bible,” said Timmerman, who also serves on First Presbyterian’s board of deacons.

The inspiration for the church’s Lydia Society came to Timmerman, wife of Pastor John Timmerman, in the early hours of a spring morning in 2008.

“For several months I had been searching for new ways to serve God in my church,” she recalled. “I asked two other women of the church — Pam Kilmer and Sue Gunzelmann— to meet for ice cream one night shortly after my ‘brain surge,’ so I might share ideas with them. We decided this was a very doable thing, and the Lydia Society was born.”

In Acts 16 of the New Testament, Paul and his companions meet “a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshipper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home.”

The pledge the Lydia Society recites at each meeting includes recognizing “that God loves a cheerful giver. We promise to give unselfishly and willingly of our time, gifts, talents and resources in service to Christ’s church in Lewiston and to pray that these efforts will bless our church, our community and our world.” They also promise “to speak only what is true and to speak that truth in love, offering only words that will be helpful in building up others.”

“In all our activities we promise to worship our Lord with an energetic, creative and thankful spirit,” they say.

Bringing Angel Food ministries to First Presbyterian fulfills the goal of an “energetic, creative and thankful spirit.”

“This is a ‘grocery relief program,’ ” Timmerman explained. “An order form and menu are distributed monthly to our members, and available to the Lewiston and surrounding communities. Orders are picked up at the church each month. There are no income guidelines, and no membership is required. If a person is handicapped or homebound, delivery is available in our area by the Lydia Society. We will also be happy to pray for anyone — or provide a Bible.”

What do the Angels serve?

One of the recent Angel Food offerings featured $30 boxes that held four rib-eye steaks, three pounds of split chicken breasts, a pound of boneless pork chops, a two-pound macaroni-and-beef dinner entree, 1z pounds of breaded white-meat chicken nuggets, a pound of lean ground beef, 32 fish sticks, a pound of frozen corn, a pound of frozen baby Lima beans, a wrapped head of lettuce, 2 pounds of sweet potatoes, a pound and a half of pork and beans, a pound of rice, 32 ounces of 2 percent milk and a dozen eggs — not to mention dessert.

If you’ve priced just the ribeye steaks in a supermarket lately, you realize what a bargain this is.

“The Lydia Society endeavors to be useful in our community in other ways as well,” Timmerman said. At monthly meetings, the Lydia Society collects stuffed animals and distributes them to local emergency- help providers.

Last December, they decorated a tree in their church with collected gloves, scarves, hats and mittens that were given to a care provider in Niagara Falls. In the spring, they collected makeup, skin care and bath products for a women’s ministry in Niagara Falls.

The Lydia Society celebrated its first anniversary this month.

“We pray that God will continue to bless our efforts to assist the First Presbyterian Church in its ministry to its members, to Lewiston and to the surrounding communities as we enter our second year,” Timmerman said.

Also during their first year, they invited nearby Tuscaroras to worship and picnic with them. That echoes First Presbyterian’s history; in the early 1800s, the Rev. Miles Squier, originally a missionary from Buffalo, worshipped with members of the Tuscarora Nation. Later, the church became involved with with the Underground Railroad. The church’s elder, Josiah Tryon, served as “conductor,” getting escaped slaves from the South to Canada.

As Presbyterians, Lydia Society members vow to follow Jesus’ example for living.

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