We practiced abundant life together at the NC Synod Gathering Block Party on Thursday evening.

After an afternoon of worship and workshops, we gathered to share a delicious Mediterranean meal, play games, peruse vendor tables, catch up with old friends, meet new folks, and listen to live music.

Our dinner was provided by The Dwelling in Winston-Salem, a mission congregation that gathers around worship and a meal every week. They feed about 200 people on a Sunday, so they called Chef Joseph Hedrick to be their Minister of Meals. At Synod Gathering, he pulled up in his food truck and served us pita with carrot hummus, meatballs, sweet pickled onion relish, and a sauteed vegetable patty.

When Chef Joseph was 20 years old, Wendell Berry’s writings shifted his life. “Our medicine is in our food” was a concept that clicked and drove him to a cook by a code of nutritional ethics: craft meals from fresh foods that will nourish the community.

As the Minister of Meals at The Dwelling, Chef Joseph has developed connections and relationships with Second Harvest Food Bank and other resources in the area. He says he sees himself as a “food rescuer” because he will take whatever is available and use it well. Pointing to a large serving container of hummus, he said, “Tonight, we are having carrot hummus because this week we were given 120 pounds of carrots. I’ve used them several ways, including creating this hummus for the Block Party.”

Enjoying the tasty meal was just part of the Block Party fun. A corn hole tournament had us competing and laughing while musicians played live music. Several of the agencies and institutions of our synod, like Lutheran Services Carolinas, Lutheran Men in Mission, and Lutheran Disaster Response had tables set up with games and information.

And we filled Bishop Smith’s car with balloons, which represented the number of emergency lanterns folks from our synod have donated to the effort to collect emergency kits at the ELCA Youth Gathering in July. After a major storm, New Orleanians often find themselves without electricity, so the emergency lanterns we have gathered will be ready for distribution before the next storm.

While there were games and activities, live music, and excellent food, perhaps the finest thing was the easy laughter and storytelling of friends, old and new, enjoying a gentle evening together on the quad of Lenoir-Rhyne University.