At Lutheran Day in May, LAMPa announced we would be seeding 10 “Love Anyway Feasts” as part of a grant to do peacebuilding in Pennsylvania. As a program designed to bring people from a diversity of backgrounds around a common table to share a meal and enter into deeper relationship with one another, it was an endeavor that reflected the sacramental foundation of the work LAMPa encourages Lutherans to do as a response to their baptism. In the weeks leading up to the November 5 election, those seeded feasts have taken place all over the Commonwealth, building new and renewed relationships that will hopefully ripple out to promote peace in ever-widening circles.
The first feast of this season was with LAMPa’s own Policy Council at their retreat at Camp Sequanota. “Often we get so focused on our business, we forget to connect with one another on an interpersonal level,” said Rev. Erin Jones, LAMPa’s Communications and Advocacy Engagement Manager. “Having the tools from the Love Anyway Feasts allowed us to create a new space for knowing one another and what drives us to do this work. It made our business and conversations after the feast richer because we had a deeper understanding of where everyone was coming from.”
On October 16, the Rev. Eric Damon coordinated the councils of Grace and Emmanuel Heilman Lutheran Churches near Ford City, to spend some time after their joint council meeting to “share a feast and talk about the sorts of things we don’t normally talk about in a council meeting.” While, as Damon says, “both councils are already decently acquainted with one another…members did come away knowing each other a little better and it was agreed that knowing each other was the best way to have difficult conversations in a peaceful way.”
Another Lutheran in PA, held a feast in their new neighborhood, where their family had just moved recently. “Our neighborhood has a variety of political signs in front of homes, so it was a blessing to be able to join together as fellow neighbors, to laugh and talk and eat together and to see each other as friends and not enemies,” they reflected after the feast. “My child hears bits and pieces of our political discourse and had started to think our neighbors with yard signs of the candidates we are not voting for were bad people. It was heartening to hear them describe after the meal how nice these neighbors are. If nothing else, this meal helped my child see our shared humanity!”
Rev. Jones held a feast at her home, with friends from different areas of her and her spouse’s life. “It was a great opportunity to connect people I have long thought should know each other,” she said. “I’m not a great party host, but Common Ground USA has put together enough resources that there was very little I had to do or worry about. Even their pre-made Spotify playlist set the perfect tone!”
On election day, Van Kirk Lutheran Church in Beaver County shares a parking lot with the local fire department (and local polling place). “This made Van Kirk an ideal location to host a Love Anyway Feast but in a unique way,” said Vicar Amy Kelly. “The church set up a fancy coffee bar and treats station outside the church to serve, connect, and unite the community until the polls closed. This space allowed people to talk about what they were passionate about – like dogs, health, and education, and they knew they would be heard and not demeaned for their opinions. It was a beautiful experience to watch people from all parts of the political spectrum be in community with each other. We left feeling hopeful that after such a divisive political season, we could come together and remember that we are all made in the image of God. “
Even as the official season of Love Anyway Feasts from Common Ground-USA has come to an end, the work of building relationships and gathering the diversity of God’s children around abundant and welcoming tables is never-ending. May these stories inspire all to deeper understanding and connecting across differences no matter the season.
