Roxanne Wright is the Manager of Program Development & Delivery in Continuing Education at USMC. She’s always interested in talking about CE and hearing your ideas. You can reach her at roxanneb.wright@utoronto.ca.
It can be wildly easy to slide into the Doing of Tasks: important stuff, but stuff nonetheless, fills the day and connective ties weaken (I’m sure nobody reading this can relate). This fall, however, I had the privilege of being fully immersed in profound and relational learning through supporting one of our Continuing Education courses, Faith & Food.
Part of the Diploma in Interfaith Dialogue, Faith & Food was born out of an offhand comment from Prof. Reid Locklin that it might be fun to visit and eat at different places of worship. Thinking that he just might be right, I connected with leaders in Jewish, Ismaili, Catholic, and Mennonite communities who were eager to welcome us. I brought in Dr. Ren Ito to work with leadership in each congregation to create materials to teach learners about their histories and beliefs. We developed a four-week course that brings learners to places of worship to share a meal together, learning about the cultures, customs and traditions of those congregations and faith communities.
At Beth Tzedec synagogue, we tried foods across the Jewish calendar and feasted like it was 5786 on matzah and gefilte fish for Passover, hamantaschen for Purim, apples & honey for Rosh Hashanah, and sufganiyot for Chanukkah. We also tried foods from the Jewish diaspora like babka and bourekas.
At St. Basil’s Church, Lay Pastoral Associate JoAnn Lopez, Father Morgan Rice, CSB, and an amazing group of parishioners served up tacos while we learned about the significance of the ‘table’ in Catholicism, not only in preparing and sharing the Eucharist, but as a place where service and social justice happen.
At the Ismaili Centre, Education Director Rahim Lalji led us through the history of Ismaili Muslims, the traditions of their communities across the world, and how food and communal meals (including one annual meal prepared in their kitchen for approximately 28,000 Toronto Ismailis) unite them. We were treated to samosas, mundu, biryani, and kheer, prepared by volunteers in their beautiful space, and drank chai from a recipe that was perfected in the days when their community met in school gymnasiums.
Our last night was spent with my congregation at the Toronto United Mennonite Church, where we toured the spaces used both by TUMC and the Mennonite New Life Centre, a Spanish congregation that meets on the third floor. We heard about histories and beliefs, culinary evolutions from a European diaspora to a global community, and how cookbooks play a role in sharing traditions that reinforce values of hospitality, simplicity and care for the environment. Best of all, we rolled up our sleeves to make vareniki (cottage cheese dumplings with cream sauce), Nicaraguan rice and black beans, borscht, and Saskatoon berry platz for a meal that was blessed by a traditional grace sung in four-part harmony.
Beyond sharing incredible food, the ways that the hosts and the learners shared their energy was life-giving to me. Our hosts from each site separately remarked how much fun they had getting the chance to reflect on their own faith—why do we do things the way we do? What are the things we take for granted in how we live our beliefs? Their excitement in sharing was visible, and it was a genuine joy to see it.
The biggest cup-filler for me, though, was spending time getting to know the learners. It was a diverse group of people participating for many different reasons, each coming to the class from different places in their own lives. One learner stands out to me: she registered with a long list of dietary restrictions, and I worried that she wouldn’t enjoy the course. Quite the opposite! She came each week, just as vibrant and lively as can be. As I got to know her, I learned about some of the big challenges she pushed through to be able to join us. Her surprising and hope-filled reflection at the end of the experience reminded me to stay curious about the ways that each of us walk our paths: “I suppose there are benefits to my not being able to eat, I can focus more on hospitality and service.”
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