A potluck dinner in Guelph is aiming to help build friendships across faiths.
The multi-faith Guelph Bridging Group is holding the potluck Feb. 24 at the Hartcourt Memorial Church.
Members of the group Steve Dyck and Anees Munshi say the potluck is an open invitation to the entire community.
“It's very simple: Bring a dish, have a conversation around the table and make some friends,” says Dyck.
The event is free. The organizers of the event urge guests to label their dishes according to their dietary preferences such as halal, kosher, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, non-dairy, nut-free.
The Guelph Bridging Group is a grassroots organization that includes members of different faiths in Guelph.
Munshi says the group was created with the intent to create a dialogue across different religions.
Dyck and Munshi first met at one of the potlucks hosted by the Muslim Society of Guelph. Since then, they built a friendship based on mutual respect and understanding of each other's different values.
“I feel like I want to reach back and create a space and opportunity for more people to have the kind of friendship that Anees and I have,” says Dyck.
The Muslim Society of Guelph annually hosts a Building Bridges event - different than the Guelph Bridging Group - that aims to break divides between different people of the community.
“This multi-faith potluck that Anees and I are organizing in some ways is like a response because the Muslim community has done this over so many years so I want to reach back.”
Sara Sayyed, principal of the Meezan School in Guelph and also an outreach coordinator at the Muslim Society of Guelph, says the purpose of the Building Bridges events was to try and reach out to as many people as they could and to inspire them to branch out.
“We really wanted others to continue reaching out and making connections across the community.”
Munshi says this event is something they hope catches on.
“We want this to become viral,” says Munshi.
“My hope is that we would build a greater understanding of each others faith practices and that it would actually be a foundation for peace,” says Dyck.
The event will take place at 4:30 p.m. at the Harcourt Memorial United Church at 87 Dean Ave. Registration can be done here.
