New Beginnings Community Breakfast connects Newton residents with meals, social services
NEWTON, N.J. (Sussex County) — A weekly community breakfast program at Christ Episcopal Church in Newton is providing hot meals and connections to social services for unhoused and underprivileged residents.
The New Beginnings Community Breakfast began in October 2025 in response to the needs of a growing population of unhoused and underprivileged people in Newton’s town center, according to the church.
Since its launch, the program has welcomed approximately 40 local men and women to its weekly gatherings, with attendance continuing to grow. Participants receive a hot breakfast and can meet on-site representatives from local social service organizations for assistance with housing, addiction services, employment goals and other needs.
The program has also recently added monthly haircuts. Following breakfast, attendees can stay for board games and Bible study in an adjacent room.
The breakfast is staffed entirely by Christ Church parishioners. Volunteer Nick Pachnos developed the concept after seeing a need in the community and recruited local social service organizations to participate.
Volunteers take food orders, prepare and serve meals, set up and clean up each Thursday and sit with participants in an effort to build relationships. The Revs. Chris Streeter and Patricia Lyons oversee the program and visit with guests at their tables.
Representatives from local social service organizations also attend the breakfasts and conduct service intakes on-site. According to the church, several breakfast participants have become regular attendees at Sunday worship services, and one was baptized in March.
“From its inception, our hope for this program was to provide more than breakfast. We believe that community is the core component of our faith lives, and we designed our mornings as a way for relationships to develop with both individuals and local agencies,” remarked the Reverend Chris Streeter, Rector of Christ Church Newton. “It is a blessing to see all the connections our New Beginnings Breakfast is helping foster. I am so grateful to all who have made this program come alive and provide this loving remedy to the isolation and loneliness felt by so many.”
