Last week, we gathered people around tables to discover their shared power.
On Thursday, we teamed up with Seattle University’s Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement and Holy Spirit Lutheran Church in Kirkland for a Potluck Project event.
We brought together about twenty-two leaders to experience what the Potluck Project is all about. It’s not your typical interfaith dialogue—or what I sometimes call “interfaith show and tell.” Instead, it’s a way for groups to connect with each other through simple, human questions like:
- What’s your favorite dish or meal from your family or community traditions?
- Can you share a story about a time you really connected with someone?
One participant, who’s been involved in interreligious work for a long time, called this a “next-level” conversation. That meant a lot.
Then on Saturday, we held a service event in Skagit County as part of our Let’s Go Together initiative. We met at Central United Methodist Church in Sedro Wolley who hosted us so graciously. Around seventy people showed up. Some helped create materials for the Triumph Teen Life Center, a local youth program. Others worked with the Skagit Land Trust to clear out blackberry vines along the Skagit River, helping to restore the natural habitat and make space for elementary students from around the county to explore the area.
As folks arrived, they naturally started talking. We set it up so they’d work in one group for the service project, then sit in a different group for lunch and conversation. That way, more people could connect. And when people sat down in those small groups, something beautiful happened—they started laughing and sharing deeply.
“The small group is the unit of transformation.
– Peter Block, Community: The Structure of Belonging
As humans, we’ve always gathered like this. But these days, we have to be more intentional about making space for group-to-group and person-to-person connection.
That’s why we created the Potluck Project toolkit with our partners at Seattle University.
That’s why PTU is in year two of organizing the Let’s Go Together process in Skagit County.
Because once people get to know each other, we begin to care for each other. We realize we were lonely for one another—and didn’t even know it.
And when that kind of connection forms, something powerful happens. We find the courage to act together and build a better world—side by side.
Potluck Project
Let’s Go Together, Skagit County
