That suggests to me that this is an incredibly important part of their experience at church. Yes, we need to study texts and the threads of theological debates. And the way a church deals with those material concerns says something about the way its members fit into the larger culture. The lay people were convinced by the doctors. That victory was a marker for many other power struggles in American society between faith and science, a continuing war whose battles are still big news, Sack said.
Food fits into faith in less obvious ways, too.
What people do in church speaks volumes about how they act in the rest of their lives, Sack said. For other churches, the menu was a way to maintain a cultural identity. Church food also reflects trends in the larger society, Sack said. Consider church supper menus published 20 years apart. The first menu is for a church social.