About this Event
Soul Food Sunday: A Monthly Gathering for Community, Culture, and Connection
You asked and we listened. We heard you missed our farm meals and gatherings from our early days. Therefore, we are reintroducing Soul Food Sunday, in a new format designed to bring people together for connection, culture, and intergenerational dialogue. Each month we explore a theme rooted in Black culture, belonging, and our collective well being.
At a moment when social and political divisions feel sharp and personal, Re-Setting the Welcome Table calls us back to an enduring Black tradition of gathering, nourishment, and collective care. This Soul Food Sunday centers the table as a site of belonging, strategy, healing, and intergenerational transmission. It is an intentional act of remembrance and resistance: choosing connection over isolation and community over fragmentation.
What Is “The Welcome Table”?
In African American traditions, the welcome table is both literal and symbolic. It appears in homes, churches, mutual aid societies, and movement spaces. It is the place where elders and children sit together, where food is shared without question, and where stories, values, and survival knowledge are passed down. Rooted in the Black spiritual “I’m Gonna Sit at the Welcome Table,” the table represents dignity, inclusion, and the radical belief that everyone deserves a seat.
Historically, the welcome table emerged in response to exclusion. When Black people were denied access to public institutions, we created our own spaces of hospitality and care. These tables fed bodies, but they also fed movements.
Why It Matters Now
Re-establishing the welcome table in times of social and political strain is an act of resilience. Multigenerational gatherings strengthen social bonds, reduce isolation, and build trust across age, class, and sector. They create informal but powerful networks where mentorship happens naturally, collaborations are sparked, and cultural memory is preserved.
For Soul Food Sunday, the welcome table becomes a living network. It is where community members reconnect, newcomers are folded in, and shared values are reaffirmed. It reminds us that resilience is not only built through policy or programs, but through repeated acts of gathering, listening, feeding one another, and making room.
To jumpstart the conversation, we will ask that participants reflect on the following questions:
Who welcomed you to the table growing up, and how did that experience shape your understanding of belonging or responsibility to others?
In times of social and political strain, what role do gatherings like this play in building movements, sustaining justice work, or preparing us for collective action?
This month’s gathering features, along with storytelling, music, and plenty of laughter.
Menu:
Smoked Chicken
Jerk Chicken
Sweet Potatoes
Jolof Rice
Chicken Sausage Gumbo
Mean Greens
Corn Bread
Bread pudding
We hope you will join us for nourishment, connection, and a seat at the table.
The gathering is free to attend for the first individual in your party. RSVP REQUIRED.
**** Space is limited to 30 people****
Children are welcome. BIPOC and their blended families are welcome to attend. Community allies who have attended at least one event hosted by The Third Place are welcome to join.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Munka Studio, 221 Lisbon Street, Lewiston, United States
USD 0.00 to USD 12.51
