In the rural, western-Kansas town of Ulysses, fine dining restaurants are hard to come by, meaning high school students lack local options for their pre-prom dinner.
So each year, New Beginnings Community Fellowship provides prom-goers with a formal dining experience at On the Rock Cafe, which offers valet parking, a promenade, photo opportunities and a homemade meal on prom night.
Cathy Cavasos, New Beginnings church secretary and retired teacher, has been involved since the start.
“We would see kids in all of their prom finery at McDonald’s—there’s nothing wrong with McDonald’s—but it’s not the nicest place to take your date for prom,” Cavasos says. “We were trying to provide something close, nice and affordable.”
A partnership for prom
Today, New Beginnings hosts On the Rock Cafe at a local coffee shop. But the event began 20 years before New Beginnings came to be.
New Beginnings formed in 2019 when New Life Church (NLC), a USMB congregation, merged with Patterson Avenue Church of God. Patterson Avenue began On the Rock Cafe in 1999. It was the brainchild of Margie McDaniel and Kelly Warren.
Prior to the merger, NLC pastor Nathan Engleman and church youth helped with On the Rock Cafe, an experience he credits with sparking an idea for partnership. So, after the merger, Engleman wanted to continue On the Rock Cafe.
“I was pretty excited about joining together and continuing (On the Rock Cafe),” says Engleman, who today co-pastors New Beginnings with former Patterson Avenue pastor Larry Borthwick. “I’m so grateful to carry on the tradition.”
Pouring into the community
In the early years, Patterson Avenue organizers spent days transforming the church to match that year’s prom theme, whether Arabian Nights, Sea of Love or A Night in Paris.
“Back in the day, it took us a whole week to decorate,” Cavasos says. “My family knew that during prom week they wouldn’t see their mom.”
After the merger and a one-year pandemic-induced hiatus in 2020, for two years the congregation hosted the dinner at New Beginnings, which meets in the former NLC facility. Then the event moved to Bear Creek Coffee.
These days, organizers focus on table decorations and one backdrop.
“We’ve decided that the service and the food is more important than what it looks like,” Cavasos says. “We focus more on making it simple and elegant instead of over the top.”
On the Rock Cafe has served anywhere from around 50 to 100 students, who pay for reservations, including dinner and sometimes a T-shirt.
Congregation members, including Engleman, prepare the meal. Others donate food or help cover expenses.
“We have some amazing folks that cook here,” Cavasos says. “Nearly everything’s homemade.”
Between cooking, setup, servers and valet parkers, the event involves between 15-30 volunteers.
“I have to give a lot of credit to our church people,” Engleman says. “They show up and serve. They are fantastic folks.”
This year, On the Rock Cafe will open on prom night April 12.
“Our heart for On the Rock ministry has never been to get something from the community,” Engleman says. “It’s always been to pour back into it.”
Janae Rempel Shafer is the Christian Leader associate editor. She joined the CL staff in September 2017 with six years of experience as a professional journalist. Shafer is an award-winning writer, having received three 2016 Kansas Press Association Awards of Excellence and an Evangelical Press Association Higher Goals award in 2022. Shafer graduated from Tabor College in 2010 with a bachelor of arts in Communications/Journalism and Biblical/Religious Studies. She and her husband, Austin, attend Ridgepoint Church in Wichita, Kansas.
