Follow your own Spirited Brunch route, supplemented by takeout from Charleston restaurants
By Hanna Raskin hraskin@postandcourier.com
Apr 20, 2020 Updated Apr 21, 2020
Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, Jews have observed Passover and Christians have celebrated Easter; Muslims are readying for the start of Ramadan later this week. And in most cases, they’ve found ways to uphold the culinary dimensions of their important holidays, with iftars, Easter dinners and Seders taking place via video conference.
In other words, while religious followers this year have had to adjust their traditions to comply with public health measures, neither food nor faith has been shelved for the duration of the pandemic. To the contrary, many people ordered to stay home have found much-needed comfort in one or the other or both.
So it hardly seemed appropriate to do away with the fourth annual edition of Spirited Brunch, a self-guided snack tour of downtown Charleston’s prayerful spaces, jointly sponsored by The Post and Courier and the College of Charleston.
Under current guidelines, it’s impossible to gather in church courtyards for tea sandwiches or share fruit with strangers at the Charleston Ba’hai Community. But we’ve come up with what we think is a workable alternative for our times.
The Spirited Brunch was originally scheduled for this Sunday. Now, though, since the houses of worship are closed, the Brunch path can be followed at any time of your choosing, so long as you maintain appropriate social distance from fellow pedestrians.
Included below is a description of each congregation along the route. In many cases, the description is followed by a short reading supplied in response to a call for a text “which has brought solace to your faith community during this time of upheaval and uncertainty.”
Since the houses of worship won’t be able to provide representative snacks this year, we’ve included a selection of recipes for foods that would have been served during the Spirited Brunch. Additionally, we’ve paired each stop with a nearby takeout suggestion, should you want to support Charleston’s hard-hit restaurant community as you stroll downtown streets.
Finally, all of the site information here is also available in the form of a handy online map, optimized for mobile phones: bit.ly/spiritedbrunch2020.
Stay healthy. We’ll see you for the fifth annual Spirited Brunch on Apr. 25, 2021.