The Singles Forum Hosts a Church Potluck! (Everyone From Every Area of the Forum is Welcome!)

P.S. When you have a hankering to make it, do you wrestle the gator yourself?!

Does it taste like chicken though? Or is it fishy? Now I don't want to know. If I know then I won't try it.

It tastes like gator.

My taste bud paranoia is growing. Perhaps I should stick to my rule of not eating meat that comes out of water. It can only taste like fish.

Hmm. Now that I think about that specific church, a lot of bad things happened there. When I was a little kid and during one of my parents break ups, my dad had an affair with the pastors wife. Turns out she slept with a lot of the congregation. Next pastor as far as I can recall is the doom and gloom preacher of everyone going to hell and he also embezzled a lot of the money so the building went without repairs and the bills didn't get payed. Next pastor struggled to pay the bills and was also a doom and gloom guy that charged for the potluck even though most people that went there were struggling financially. There was a guest speaker that was praying over people and "slaying them in the spirit". I was maybe 13 or 14 at the time and was depressed and contemplating suicide but decided to pray hoping for some change. The dude comes over to me and tries to push me down with his hand on my head. Naturally that instantly brought me out of my prayer and made me mad but I was also kind of laughing in my mind because the dude was maybe 5'4-6 and I was 6'4. So he was struggling to touch my head. That went on for a good few minutes before I looked him in the eyes and he went away. I think the only thing positive from the church was I met my best friend there.

Hey Everyone!

Here in the Singles Forum, We:





Growing up in a very Lutheran surrounding, church potlucks were a regular staple of my childhood.

Now of course, the rule of any potluck is that you need to bring a dish or dessert to pass!! And so:

* What kinds of memories -- good or bad -- do the following pictures bring up of your own experiences with potlucks? (Or does your church/country have a different tradition other than potlucks?)

* If you didn't grow up in church, what kinds of fellowship activities does your church hold/do you wish they would have?

* What would you bring to our Forum Potluck -- a casserole, crockpot concoction, or dastardly dessert? It can be homemade, store-bought (hey, everyone is busy these days and not everyone likes/knows how to cook.) Are there any special dishes you are known for?

* What regular rotation of dishes did you look forward to most at your own church's potlucks? (Sister Martha's famous apple pie, Brother Bartholomew's "secret recipe" bbq sandwiches, Pastor Peter's Corny Casserole, etc.)

* And if you don't happen to be cuisine-i-a-cally gifted (I feel your pain!) what other things would you contribute? Plastic cutlery, cups and plates, napkins, POP (NOT soda -- Northern Respect!) juice, squirt guns. Er... I mean... I seem to remember some of my summer church potlucks involving squirt guns and water balloons...

*What kinds of games and entertainment would you most enjoy? (Why does a dunk tank suddenly come to mind...) My church actually did have a dunk tank one year -- and I just remember people lining up in droves when the pastor took his turn as the victim, lol.

Let the fun -- and the dunking -- begin!!!

Everybody -- spouses, families, neighbors and all -- are welcome to the Singles Forum Church Potluck!

Tell us what YOU would enjoy most, and what you would bring to share.


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Yeah, I get in and chase them out of the bayou before I make a stew out of them.

i'll answer the 1st ?: "bad memories". yes, bad. why? the worst food i ever ate was at church pot luck dinners! & too many times. the food was always cooked by old timers & yes, you guessed it, OVERCOOKED!

I demand a TikTok of this -- or it didn't really happen!!!

I also recall that you've said your first language is French...

Seriously now... A pretty blonde lady wrestling alligators out of their lairs while shouting in French?!!

How does this NOT have "Social Media Sensation!!!" written all over it??!!!

I know for me it would be an INSTANT "Like," "Comment," and "Subscribe!"

In the past I brought store-bought items such as soda, fruit, plastic utensils/plates, dips. For some work events, I have brought yogurt fruit salad, rice pudding, and smokies (small sausages). The sausages were popular, but a lot of people skipped/did not even bother to taste the fruit salad or rice pudding. In the future, I would consider bringing loaded mashed potatoes.

On the other hand, sometimes you can be a lot more simple.

I found a good deal on large bags of skittles, so one night I set out a crystal bowl full of skittles, with a spoon stuck in it. The contrast of a crystal bowl, with a silver spoon, holding common skittles, appealed to me.

It was a big hit. Not the kind of thing you do every dinner, but that one time people loved it.

Memories of potlucks past: I have a bunch of them. Our church likes meeting and eating.

Our senior (allegedly retired, though I think we forgot to tell him he's retired) pastor always had a knack with chicken and dressing. He'd bring in the tub of cornbread he made the night before, start shredding and sauteeing onion and celery and putting chicken in a pressure cooker. When he was done he'd have big tubs of the best chicken and dressing you ever tasted. Our church started cooking Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for the local Walmart and a nearby town's city hall, on the strength of his chicken and dressing reputation.

The only way to survive a church potluck is to get a two-bite portion of everything that looks interesting. That way you won't drive home wondering what that one dish might have tasted like, and you also won't explode from overeating.


What I would bring to a church potluck:

First option would be chocolate chip cookies. I know a really good recipe that uses oat flour (oatmeal in a blender.) It gives cookies a wonderful texture.

Second option would be deviled eggs. Even if one or two other people made deviled eggs, always room for more at a church dinner.

Third option would be homemade pimento cheese sandwiches. NEVER buy that premade junk at the store when you could easily mash up some cheese, pimento and mayo.

Fourth option would be chili. I ignore all the stuff people say is necessary or forbidden for a pot of chili... Like tomato sauce. Some people say you should never put tomato sauce in chili. But the same people say they love my chili. I just don't tell them I put tomato sauce in it.

What's your take on M & M's?

Ours likes meeting, eating and DRINKING lol. Especially at Church BBQ's or members house BBQ's.

Howdy and welcome to the forum.

What kinda barbecue we talking about here?

I'm so sorry you went through this, Cold, and I give you kudos for not walking away from Christianity forever.

I sure would have wanted to if I had experienced this in church. Thank you for sharing your stories with us. You are definitely not the only one who's had negative experiences with others who call themselves Christians. Most of us here have been through traumas instilled on us by churches and/or "church people."

I'm really glad you're here and hanging out with us and I hope we can be of some comfort to you.