Building Community One Bowl of Soup at a Time 

Ahhh, it’s finally back, along with sweater weather, campfires, flannel Fridays, puzzle nights, and pumpkin flavored everything!

Is there a season with more to look forward to than autumn? I think not.

Happy soup season, y’all! 

I would like to make the argument that soup, above all others, is the most spiritual of foods. Sure, there’s the bread of life, and living water, and communion wine… but what other dish compels you to say, “Ahh,” or “Mmm” as soon as you sip from it? Soup is the food equivalent of a breath prayer, inhaling “Yah,” exhaling “Weh,” so that you’ve got God all up in your lungs. 

And how alike is soup to the body of Christ, with its distinct flavors and aromas and textures represented and yet one in thought, word, and deed? One Lord, one faith, one soup, one baptism…

I’m sure that’s how it goes. 

If you’re hankering for a hefty helping of a steaming bowl of gladness this autumn, why not pair your soup season with some sustainable practices that will bless the earth and bless your neighbor simultaneously? Win win win!

Here are some ideas to really experience the abundant life of Christ in your fall culinary adventures.

Neighborhood Soup Swap

I certainly have my favorite soups I return to week after week, but even I get tired of sausage kale and potato soup and want to try out something new. Connect with your neighbors by planning a neighborhood soup swap to sample a variety of different recipes. You can encourage each other to buy ingredients locally and make a big batch of seasonally inspired soups.

On the day of the big swap, have everyone bring reusable containers to take home samples and provide recipe cards with each soup so that you can make your favorites for your family and friends in the future.

Local Produce Potluck Party

To promote gardening and local farmers markets, consider hosting a soup potluck where everyone brings a soup made from ingredients they grew in their own gardens or sourced from a local farmer. As part of the event, you can invite people to exchange plant cuttings or seeds to encourage more home gardening, share tips on composting food scraps, or even create a community compost bin to keep the cycle going.

If your church or community has a community garden, perhaps this could be an opportunity to throw a local harvest party using the produce from the garden itself. This way, you can promote the community garden and build a time of fellowship around all of the hard work that went into preparing this space.

Soup & Serve Saturdays

Carry some large batches of soup with the hands and feet of Jesus to the local shelters, elderly neighbors, or other people in need in your community. Pick a Saturday to gather a group of friends or neighbors to cook soup together, then package the soup in eco-friendly containers, like mason jars, for delivery. 

This is a great way to warm up your community, literally and figuratively.

Zero Waste Soup Challenge

Challenge your friends to create a soup using only ingredients they already have at home—no new grocery shopping allowed. Clear out those beans in the pantry, defrost the frozen vegetables in the freezer, and chop up the last of that celery… voila! Zero Waste Soup!

This could be an opportunity to share your creations together, or, if the results weren’t the culinary masterpiece you imagined, just post a photo and story to social media or share the escapades in your group text message.

Leftover Soup Share-a-Thon

Even though I love to eat leftovers, there’s only so many days in a row I can handle eating the exact same soup. What’s for lunch? Sausage, kale, and potato soup, again. It was great the first eight times.

Why let that leftover pot of soup go to waste when you could plan ahead to share the wealth with a friend or neighbor? Make it a habit to package up your soup leftovers instead of letting it go to waste in your fridge. Sharing is caring, but if you can’t think of anyone to share that deliciousness with, you can always freeze it for your own purposes later, too.

Soup & Story Night

Our small group of friends is always looking for good themes to gather around so that we can get to know each other better and invest in each other’s lives. For that reason, I can’t wait to give this idea a try. 

Invite your friends to bring a soup made with a family recipe or a dish that holds personal significance. As you each share the soup, share the stories behind the recipes—who first made it, why it is so memorable, etc. Our cultural food traditions are worth preserving, not just for the stories they tell but also because so many of them rely on locally-sourced ingredients.

I hope you’ll give these soup season ideas a try in your own community! And if you’re willing, grab a photo and share the one you did with the Root & Vine community on Instagram. We’d love to hear how you are blessing your friends and neighbors during this soup season.