Potluck brings wider view of different faiths

PHOTO | MIXED MEDIA

Potlucks for Pluralism gives Charlotte-area college students the opportunity to meet people of diverse faiths over meals. The initiative is the result of a four-year grant to Johnson C. Smith University from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations in collaboration with Mecklenburg Metropolitan Interfaith Network.

Breaking bread is an opportunity for Charlotte-area students to understand people of diverse faiths.

Houses of faith are hosting potluck dinners for students from eight colleges in the region to promote interreligious understanding through dinner and dialogue. The Islamic Society of Greater Charlotte, 7025 The Plaza, will host the next Potluck for Pluralism on Feb. 23 at 6:30 p.m., and the Hindu Center of Charlotte, 7400 City View Drive, will host on Feb. 28 at 6:30 p.m.

Potlucks for Pluralism are the result of a $119,000 grant to Johnson C. Smith University from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations to fund a four-year program to engage college students and religious communities in structured conversations about diverse worldviews during a meal. The initiative is a collaboration with Mecklenburg Metropolitan Interfaith Network to promote pluralism as a source of strength instead of something to be feared.  

Potlucks for Pluralism will continue every semester through the 2025-26 academic year.  

“The AVDF-funded Potlucks for Pluralism program uses in-depth conversations during the relaxed setting of a shared meal to support interfaith relationship-building,” said Kendal Mobley, associate professor of religion and coordinator of Spiritual Life at JCSU. “Students have the benefit of direct interaction with faith communities and, as a result, develop an appreciation for the spiritual diversity in the world.”  

The Rev. LeDayne McLeese Polaski, MeckMIN’s executive director, worked with Mobley to adapt the Open Tables program specifically for university students with each potluck hosted by a different religious community.

During each meal, students from eight campuses across Mecklenburg County come together to learn directly from their hosts and one another.

“As one of the fastest-growing areas in the United States, Charlotte-Mecklenburg is experiencing an equally rapid increase in diversity of all types, including religious diversity,” Polaski said. “In this context, we recognize an urgent need to give people the skills and experiences to be good neighbors to one another.”

The first dinner and dialogue last year was during the fall semester and included students from JCSU, Davidson College, Johnson & Wales University, Queens University of Charlotte, UNC Charlotte, and Wingate University.

“Our team talked about how heartwarming it was that we all sat at a table with absolute strangers [and] discussed real life issues … with people from different walks of life, different religions and cultures,” said Shukriyah Hasanka, a student at Queens. “Yet, we were all able to be respectful of one another’s stories. By the end of the night, these strangers weren’t strangers after all; they became our friends.”

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