Comments on: Cheri Corder … Adventist Potluck Politics

By: Kathy

Kathy — Mon, 30 May 2011 05:10:10 +0000

Mrs White said it’s best to make dietary changes gently so as not to cause shock and injury to health. She herself never became vegan, maybe because she couldn’t digest beans, a vegan staple. Not everyone can live by the strictest standards.

Our church is intentionally winning friends to Jesus. We conduct neighborhood outreach door to door, classes to meet local family needs, huge, daytime Bible studies in public places, etc. We have a large amount of non-SDAs attending, so we kindly accept both veggie and meaty dishes, which are clearly marked at potluck.

PTL our members are not judgemental, but chose rather to be patient with those who are growing into all truth, and health.

By: Jan Ellis

Jan Ellis — Mon, 30 May 2011 04:46:05 +0000

When invited for a meal at someone’s house who might not know I am a vegetarian, I say..”Man, you are brave to invite a couple of vegetarians over for dinner, but don’t worry, we eat lots of things. Once, when asked what we ate for Thanksgiving, I proceeded to describe a turkey made out of peanut butter: I went on and on as her eyes got bigger and bigger. Finally she burst out laughing when she realized what I was doing. To this day she laughs about it! I think we are too sensitive to it. Some people don’t eat gluten, others peanuts, and still others meat! It’s no big deal, except if we make people feel like they are inadequate if they do eat meat.

By: george

george — Sun, 29 May 2011 03:32:30 +0000

I agree with Myrna’s comments. Non vegetarians can be a big help here.
If you go to church in Hawaii and stay for there great potlucks, there is a good chance there will be fish on the menue.

By: toasty redhead

toasty redhead — Sat, 28 May 2011 23:52:47 +0000

Right on!

By: Tawny

Tawny — Sat, 28 May 2011 21:02:46 +0000

The truth, shared in love and with love seemed to work for Jesus…

By: Darlene Winter

Darlene Winter — Sat, 28 May 2011 03:43:54 +0000

We sing “Amazing Grace” but forget what we are singing. We tend to sing the words but practice “Amazing Pic-a-part Others” or we sing about Amazing how far they have fallen and I am better than they. Amazing Grace God has for me, let me have the same grace and practice toward others.

By: Myrna Marsa

Myrna Marsa — Sat, 28 May 2011 02:42:20 +0000

At our church we have many that are not vegetarians so we make a practice of labeling the food with the meat involved or vegetarian. No one seems to have a problem with it and visitors are happy to know they can have meat dishes if they desire.

By: Jeff Tigner

Jeff Tigner — Thu, 26 May 2011 20:07:54 +0000

I was attending an SDA Church in the Washington Conference (Still am-just a different church.)
Some friends of mine at this church had started a program at this church to feed the homeless, and less fortunate in our area.
Imagine my surprise when Thanksgiving came around and the leaders of this program were told that, while they were ‘cleared’ to use the church facilities they would not be allowed to cook the turkeys at the church.
The leaders of the program then came up with the idea of cooking the turkeys at home, and then bring them into the church kitchen and keep them warm as guests arrived.
Guess what? They were emphatically told, “No!”.
It was at that point in my life that I started asking myself if I really wanted to be associated with such a selfish group of believers, as these SDA’s, since it had onlybeen a couple years prior to that that I was baptized.
After going to several different churches, I figured out that there were going to be ’speed bumps’ like this no matter where I attended church….I was right, but I’m still here, and I’m not going anywhere.
(And for the record, I am not a vegetarian-If God leads me to be, then I will. But not until then.)

By: Connie Dahlke

Connie Dahlke — Sun, 22 May 2011 04:55:10 +0000

Many years ago, my newly-wed cousin and his 18 year old wife brought chili to a family potluck. Most of us were vegetarians, but apparently this fact had been missed by the new bride. As the food was passed around, the chili (with real meat) found its way onto many vegetarian plates. As I began to eat, it occurred to me that the “vegeburger” in the chili seemed a bit tough. Then word began to spread that it was the “real thing.” I continued to finish the small serving while my mother glared at me across the table. What to do!! The moment passed and nothing more has been said in the interim (and I’m still alive).

In college, a group of those of us in a Home Economics class were invited to attend a County Home Ec group that taught low-income women to use commodoty foods. We were not told to expect lunch, but there it was - turkey loaf that was proudly presented by the women’s group as their special recipe. About half of the college group were vegetarians and about half were not. We discretely “traded servings” and all was eaten.

While it seems unlikely that a non-Adventist would find their way to an SDA church on Saturday morning with no guidance and no previous “contact,” even when this happens things can be discretely handled. Perhaps it was the unkind remark from the church lady that caused the hurt feelings. Perhaps the chicken dish could have been directed to known non-vegetarians, with a kind explanation to the visitor that the usual practice is vegetarian fare, but her dish was certainly enjoyed by those present who are not vegetarians. After all, Jesus ate fish, even after His resurrection (Luke 24:42).

We should not make a moral issue (or caustic remarks) about these faux pas. If the church community is particularly sensitive about these issues, perhaps the bulletin announcement should anounce the potuck to be vegetarian.