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Tool

Planning an Interfaith Potluck: Bring Your Own Beliefs

This resource offers a how-to guide to hosting an interfaith potluck dinner. It gives ideas for activities, dialogue facilitation and key do’s and don’ts.

Why a potluck?

America has been called a “melting pot,” but what if you brought your best dish to a dinner and you were met at the door with a giant machine that melted it into the same bland goo as everybody else’s best dish? That would be a nightmare.

On the contrary, the whole point of a potluck is the diversity of dishes. Potlucks are a celebration of pluralism. They rely on the contributions of a diverse community. If people don’t bring an offering, the potluck doesn’t exist. If everyone brings the same thing, the potluck is boring. With that in mind, here’s your how-to guide in spreading this message to your campus.

Why an interfaith potluck?

The interfaith potluck is a way to introduce religious diversity as another significant part of who we are
and how we might relate to one another, driving forward the idea that religious diversity should be actively
engaged as a strength.

We believe that creating a society that values religious diversity is crucial to building relationships that
strengthen our civic cohesion. If we want people of divergent values to work together in solving issues we
collectively face, we will have to begin by talking to one another about what matters to us most.

This guide outlines the three big components of an interfaith potluck event: eating, presenting, and sharing.

Event flow: Eat. Present. Share.

Event flow: Eat. Present. Share.

Eat.

This part is straightforward, but it requires a bit of preparation to ensure it goes smoothly. Once
you’ve identified your guest list, send out a sign-up sheet labeled with the different categories
of dishes you’d like at the potluck (e.g. appetizer, side dish, dip, dessert, etc.) It’s a good idea
to work with your dining hall in providing a main entrée or two, then fill the rest out with guest
contributions. Be sure that the sign-up sheet also has a place to specify important dietary
information (contains nuts, dairy, vegan-friendly, etc.). Since this is an interfaith event, you might
want to consider foregoing pork items entirely.

Clearly label each dish and arrange them all just before the event starts (consider if some people
need crockpots, particular serving utensils, etc.). Then let people dish up, settle in, perhaps listen
to some good music, and chat with one another.

Finally, once it seems that people have settled in and have had some time to start eating, feel
out the right moment to formally welcome them (if this is an hour-long event, this will probably
be around 20 minutes into the activity). When you welcome them, offer up some gratitude for all
the food and the people who prepared it. Then in your own way, share how excited you are that
there’s a space for everyone to celebrate their distinct dishes—this will provide a segue to the
presentation portion of the event.

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