Campus Ministry hosted its first Langar meal on March 24 after nearly two years of planning.

In the fall of 2016, Campus ministry attended the Parliament of the World’s Religion conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

The conference lasted three days, and Campus Ministry heard from speakers such as the Dalai Lama and Jane Goodall. Sikhs provided a Langar at this conference.

Campus Ministry representatives thought it was a fascinating experience and in the fall of 2016 decided to have a Langar at Creighton, said Hank Elbert, a college of Business student involved in Campus Ministry.

A Langar meal is a free vegetarian meal prepared in a community kitchen of the Gurdwara, the place of worship for Sikhs. The Iowan Sikh Association drove in from Des Moines to give a presentation on Sikhism and to provide the Langar meal.

“I coordinated with a Gurdwara in Des Moines, Iowa to host Langar at Creighton to help promote the celebration of faith diversity,” said Shakchhi Joshi, a student leader of campus ministry. “There were no Gurdwaras in Omaha and the closest one was theirs in Des Moines, so I e-mailed Mr. Baljit Singh who represents the Gurdwara and Iowa Sikh Association to see if he would help us put this event together.”

The presentation lasted roughly an hour. The speakers from the Iowan Sikh Association highlighted important facts and frequently asked questions about Sikhism, the fifth largest religion in the world.

Before entering the room, everyone took shoes off outside and wrapped a scarf around their heads. Then, everyone sat down on a clean, white sheet of paper in rows facing one another.

Foam trays were distributed and no one was allowed to eat until the food had been evenly distributed. Two hymns were sung before the dinner began. Hymns are the Sikhs’ way of communicating with God.

But the Iowa Sikh Association was not the only one to present.  Moizza Salahuddin, a student at Creighton, also presented the Islamic view of the Langar.

In Islam, if one’s prayer to God is answered, “then people serve a free meal to everyone,” said Salahuddin.

The dinner lasted until 7 p.m. and everyone returned their head scarves upon exiting.