Throughout the Bible Christians are commanded to love one another and one area church is taking that commandment to a very tangible level.

Chesapeake Church of the Nazarene is opening a food pantry. Church board member Charles Bell said the food pantry is in direct response to an obvious need in the community.

“It had been on my mind quite a while. I would be down at the church work, since I do some of the repairs, and a lot of times people would stop me and ask for help or they would call the church,” Bell said. “Our new pastor (Paul Merritt) started in January and I talked to him about it and told him there was a need for this and he suggested we start a food pantry.”

The pantry, named Compassion First Ministries, will be open 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursdays and will be staffed by volunteers. Because of limited resources, it will primarily serve the Chesapeake area, Bell said he won’t turn people away if they come from the immediate area. The pantry will operate on donations and fund raisers.

The church is located at 817 Third Ave. For more information or to make a donation, call the church at 867-4337.