The Midweek Potluck
A look at how a simple mid-week potluck has become a meaningful way to strengthen fellowship and support Bible study.
Read Time: 3 minutes
In the course of our Almighty Creator’s purpose for His creation, many divine events in Scripture invited participants to share meals representative of God’s blessings. The custom is fervently kept to this day, encouraging a spiritually uplifting outcome for an event that deserves blessing and success. For example, consider an account in Genesis 19:1-3 (ESV), when Lot bade two angels to find rest and food in his house:
In Genesis 21:8, Abraham celebrated Isaac’s birth by making dinner! “And [Isaac] grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.” Or consider the institution of the Passover, a dinner prepared in haste before Israel’s anticipated exodus from Egypt, and later also prepared at our Savior’s request, to share supper with his apostles before his crucifixion. In sum, there are many references in Scripture of occasions celebrated with a “feast.” Ann Arbor Ecclesia’s mid-week class evenings may not be so epic as those found in Scripture! But the spirit of gathering to share a potluck dinner has been, and continues to be, an occasion to praise God’s living presence and to encourage the evening’s hour of studying His Holy Word.
What: Every Wednesday, from September to early June, the Ann Arbor Christadelphians gather for a potluck meal before Bible class.
How: Families start trickling in around 6 pm, an hour before class starts, bringing casseroles, crock pots, salads, and desserts. The hall’s kitchen is available for warming and preparing dishes in time for dinner. As our fellow attendees gather for an evening of studying God’s Word, the Fellowship Room begins to warm with the aromas of delicious Italian, Mediterranean, and BBQ flavors. What is the kids’ favorite? After coming in from the playground or playing in the abundance of Michigan snow, the kids clamor into the fellowship room when the pizza arrives!
Since the stream of arriving attendees and food is ongoing, an unwritten “rule-of-thumb” starts our humble Wednesday Night feast when sufficient food items arrive for dinner. The decision is made to call everyone present together and encircle the buffet while holding hands to share in a prayer of thanksgiving expressed by one of the brothers in attendance.
Everyone is aware that classes are expected to begin promptly at 7 pm. As desserts gradually take the place of the entrees, the Fellowship Room is prepared for the evening’s scheduled hour of study. The desserts and snacks remain out until after the 8 pm adjournment of classes, while “many hands make quick work” of stacking chairs and gathering trash.
Why: The Bible class potlucks originated nearly three decades ago when Ann Arbor Christadelphians met in various places before our hall was built. When construction of the hall was finished in 2002, the mid-week classes continued in the blessed convenience of gathering in one location, and, as the group grew, the snack breaks were wisely upgraded to accommodate the elderly members by including a potluck meal. This activity accomplished two essential and blessed improvements that promote attendance and fellowship. First, it provides elderly members with nutritional meals. Second, it provides a dinner hour for attendees and their families who typically travel directly from their workplaces.
It is important to emphasize attending the Wednesday night potluck is strictly an option. In all ways, the Bible classes are the focus of the evening. Of course, snacks and desserts remain an incentive to our online friends to come out and share in this in-person fringe benefit! In sum, Ann Arbor’s mid-week Bible classes are a team effort expressing thankfulness for our Almighty Creator’s living presence.
Alan Smith,
Ann Arbor Ecclesia, MI