I love a good church potluck. Unlike formal rites of passage − such as birth, coming-of-age, marriage and death, the rituals that mark the significant transitions of our lives – potlucks are folk rituals, practices of the lay folk that have their own “everyday sacredness,” particular to the community.
When I say “everyday sacredness,” I am referring to how people of faith aspire to live out of our values, commitments and beliefs from the smallest interpersonal interactions to major life decisions. We see this in faith practices, like the Sikh community’s Langar, a community kitchen that serves food in the spirit of unconditional hospitality.
We see local examples, with Portage County churches providing meals and other social services to fill the gaps in our secular social safety net, often in partnership with one another…