As a relative newcomer to St Mary’s, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I booked for the Taste of All Nations evening, other than that there would be plenty of food! A regular feature in the church calendar, this event is in fact a marvellous celebration of the national, ethnic, racial, linguistic and cultural diversity found within the church family and how none of these form barriers to the deep unity and love that exist for those who belong to Christ. As such, the evening was about far more than food.
When we arrived, the church and hall were a hive of activity; dishes being laid out, drinks being served, table quizzes being pored over beneath international flag bunting, colourful costumes being admired, children running around excitedly; the atmosphere was nothing short of electrifying. After a warm welcome from one of our hosts Gracy, who declared that this is what heaven will be like, we were called to collect food from various tables in the hall, all lovingly and generously prepared by members of the congregation. The array of dishes from the four corners of the world was a gastronomic delight, including spicy chicken from India, jollof rice from West Africa (which kept Ian Miller very happy!), bobotie from South Africa, pork and noodles from Malaysia, curry from Thailand, and even roast beef and Yorkshire pudding! It was really hard not to have eyes bigger than one’s stomach, especially as there were tasty puddings to follow!
Whilst we feasted, various people wearing national costumes were called onto the stage to describe them and explain the symbolism in their colours and styles, which they did with enormous pleasure and pride. Then Stephen and Anthony, from Kenyan and Malaysian backgrounds respectively, interviewed each other about their faith story. The rest of the evening was marked by that most universal of languages – music. A guest choir from St Paul’s Church, Slough led a moving time of praise and worship before the young people took to the stage to give an energetic and exuberant rendition of Indian bhangra dance, ably choreographed by Sunitha and Robin, with the rest of us joining in with varying levels of aptitude. Thankfully no-one was judging me! The Old Peculiars band provided a Celtic note to proceedings as we carried on foot-tapping and dancing to the penny whistle. In a final show of the oneness, harmony and love which binds all Christians, we sang The Blessing in several different languages.
Gracy was right – the evening was indeed a foretaste of heaven:
‘After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no-one could count, from every tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.’ (Revelation 7:9)
Harsha
On Saturday 27th Sept, I had the privilege of attending Taste of All Nations for the very first time and what a fun time we had.
On arrival, we sat at a table admiring all the beautiful costumes worn by various people, male and female. The colours and the intricate stitching of pearls, sequins and other trimmings were just stunning! Soon after we were called in groups to visit the hall area for food and my goodness, I have never seen such an array of dishes, flavours, spices and food from all over the globe. I tried to take small amounts of everything that caught my eye and was soon weighed down by a formidable platter of food I could barely carry, never mind eat, but luckily we had brought a bag that we could utilise for the left overs! This was fortunate as there was banquet of puddings in the church welcome area, but I could not eat another thing after the main course, so took some pudding home instead.
Stephen and Anthony did an interesting Q & A on their spiritual journey and how they came to Christ which was so encouraging to hear. And we were treated to some beautiful singing by members of St Paul’s, Slough. The evening was topped off with Bollywood style dancing, which we were encouraged to join in, followed by some Dutch Oom Pah Pah music. I was so impressed by the youth groups who performed the most amazing, synchronised dancing and were very enthusiastic with their moves and getting people to join in. It was such a lovely sociable time with our church family, and we are very blessed to have such talent and diversity at St Mary’s.
‘As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.’ (1 Peter 4:10)
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the evening as I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and probably will not need to eat for at least a week! I am truly blessed to be a part of our church family. I’ll finish with this beautiful verse that says it better than I ever could.
‘For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.’ (Romans 12:4-5) Amen to that!
Jane
As a family we love going to the Taste of All Nations. We haven’t missed it so far! Why do we love it so much? It is simply because of the different types of yummy food from all nations under one roof for our boys and the joy that flows with celebration of our differences as believers in Christ. We look forward to the 2026 Taste of All Nations by God’s special grace.
Shubbie
We have been regulars at Taste of All Nations for the last few years. We enjoyed all the different foods, cultures, music and spending time with others from different congregations across St Mary’s. The evening had a vibrant and joyful atmosphere. This year was different as our teenagers Henri (15) and Mia (13) sat with their friends from church as there was a large group from Shift who helped with the dance moves on Ed Sheeran’s song Sapphire. A highlight for me, apart from the food of course was the worship group from St Paul’s Slough who led us in songs of praise in different languages including Swahili and Hindi. I also surprisingly enjoyed trying to follow the dance moves demonstrated by a group of teens from Shift, dressed in colourful clothes.
I asked my family what they thought of the evening:
Mia said: A fantastic evening for all ages filled with fun activities which varied from singing and dancing and a small taste of church’s diverse cultural foods.
What she enjoyed most: Dancing.
What surprised her: All of the different cultures in our church – lots of different food and dresses.
Henri – What he enjoyed most: Food (of course!).
What surprised him most? How many different cultures there are in our church and the wide variety of activities during the evening – the band, dancing and praise and worship.
Francois – What he enjoyed most: The Old Peculiars (a band led by Berend) featuring a concertina, accordion, penny whistle and violin playing some familiar South African tunes and the Worship band leading us in songs in different languages.
What surprised him most? A lot of young people this year
Marisa