Congregations Across Charleston Invited to Join Spirited Brunch
By Hanna Raskin hraskin@postandcourier.com
Oct 24, 2018
Because The Post and Courier’s Spirited Brunch is structured as a self-guided walking tour, the springtime eventhas always been limited to congregations located in downtown Charleston. This year, for example, the participant lineup included the Charleston Tibetan Society (which poured chai tea), Mt. Zion AME Church (which doled out hoppin’ John), the Central Mosque of Charleston (which served hummus) and The French Huguenot Church (which supplied Huguenot torte, of course.)
In 2019, though, houses of worship throughout the greater Charleston area will finally have the chance to present their food and faith traditions to the hundreds of residents and visitors who follow the tour route.
For the first time since The Post and Courier and the College of Charleston in 2017 jointly launched the Spirited Brunch, the program will be enhanced by an on-campus hall in which congregations located beyond downtown can present glimpses of their communities. In addition to displaying photos, literature and other materials, each congregation will serve a snack representative of its faith or local traditions, in keeping with the established Spirited Brunch format.
Granted, a table isn’t an ideal substitute for a building that’s hosted countless life cycle events. But gathering far-flung congregations in one place will both make the Spirited Brunch more accessible to visitors with varying degrees of mobility and allow for the most diverse roster yet. Among the congregations which have already signed on are Mount Pleasant’s Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and West Ashley’s Hindu Temple and Cultural Center.
Other aspects of the Spirited Brunch will remain essentially the same: Once again, the Department of Religious Studieswill staff a central event hub, where attendees can talk to faculty members about the long history of religious pluralism in Charleston. And the food section published immediately before Spirited Brunch Sunday will again include a map of participating downtown congregations, introducing readers to the people who enliven them and exploring the culinary variety that makes Charleston so special.
As a reminder, any congregation is welcome and encouraged to join the Spirited Brunch roster. All the house of worship is asked to supply are volunteers to answer visitors’ questions and a meaningful snack in a quantity sufficient to serve 200 people. (Funding is available to assist congregations which aren’t in a financial position to give away so much food.)
The Spirited Brunch is scheduled for 12:30-3:30 p.m. April 28. For tour-goers, no pre-registration is required for the free public event. But for congregations, the registration deadline is March 1. To register, email hraskin@postandcourier.com; that’s also the address to use for questions about the event.
See you on April 28.
https://www.postandcourier.com/blog/raskin_around/congregations-across-charleston-county-invited-to-join-spirited-brunch-on/article_23718368-d60a-11e8-bd27-4b75c455d2d5.html