'It's really lush, it's really cool.”

It's St Peters in the City free community Christmas dinner.

'Thirty-two chickens, six units of ham at $130….so $800 worth of ham.”

It's a logistical nightmare for coordinator Julz Marriner, as you could imagine.

A sit-down dinner for 250 guests, and another 50 meals to be packed and delivered to the elderly, the reclusive, the isolated and those who cannot, or choose not to, make it into the church on the evening of Christmas Day. And a team of 100 giving, caring volunteers making things happen, smoothly and with good grace.

Julz is running through the 'lush” menu for The Weekend Sun.

'Cos salad, potato, salad, ancient grain salad, roast pumpkin, carrots, kumara, broccoli and asparagus, gravy, stuffing.”

But it is ex-Navy chef Tamielle Kahurangi-Monk, who concocted the offering and she'll be driving things in the kitchen.

'Also Christmas pudding with custard, mini pavs.”

The works in fact. And live Christmas carols by the whanau of St Peters minister Enosa Auva'a to settle the digestion. The new-ish minister will be overseeing his first free community Christmas dinner.

The team has been working on the St Peters in the City free community Christmas dinner since last December.

'The dinner's an institution, been going 30 years and it just rolls over – finish one, start another with feedback, new ideas and fresh thoughts.”

And the fresh thoughts include the sad realisation that the need for the church Christmas dinner continues to widen.

'People are struggling more than ever. And when we hear of families that are middle to well-to-do, complaining, then life is getting really tough,” says Julz.

'And if they are struggling, what about the marginalised – the low incomes families, refugees, new immigrants, large families, the disabled, all the demographics we know are struggling even more.”

But on Christmas Day there will be an oasis at St Peters in the City.

'If you'd like to join in and not worry about decorations, not worry about dinner and the cost of food; if you'd like to feel the love and wonderful vibes of Christmas, then there's a safe place in town.”

And attending the St Peter free community Christmas dinner can mean freeing up some money for children's Christmas presents.

Julz understands not everyone wants go to church. And that is fine.

'We just see the dinner as a mechanism to help ease the load on a really special day. Just one day of the year we try really hard to spread the joy. It also helps us as a church to connect with people throughout the rest of the year.”

And connecting with people is important because the dinner would not happen without massive amounts of support and help.

'We couldn't do it on our own,” says Julz. 'A lot of the 'lush, cool” food is donated and the church has a very good partnership with Good Neighbour."

And the 100-strong army of volunteers are not all members of the church.

'Many of them contact us each year and have been coming back year after year-after-year from all around the city and from all walks of life.”

They are the quiet altruists.

'There are lots of people and groups doing amazing things but we can accomplish so much more if we collaborate, as we do, with other churches, schools and other organisations.”

Back to 'lush” stuff – did we mention chocolate brownie and seasonal fruit to finish?

To find out more about the annual St Peters in the City free community Christmas Dinner, phone 07 975 0207 or visit: www.stpeters.org.nz