Rob Shepherd recently hosted one Holiday potluck but with a new twist: soup.
The Virginia pastor even gave his party a festive name.
“Soup-mas was a fun gathering with our little group from church,” Shepherd said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “We meet weekly for a Bible study, and that was ours Christmas party as a group.”
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Normally, he said, the group does a potluck, but this year they are open to innovative ideas.
“My wife, who is an educator, rejected the idea that everyone should bring something a soup to share,” recalls Shepherd, senior pastor of Next Level Church in Yorktown, Virginia.
Virginia pastor Rob Shepherd said his wife, Monica (left), came up with the idea of making a soup potluck for their annual church group Christmas party. (Rob Shepherd)
The idea was a success. But the next question was how guests would enjoy the soups at the potluck party.
This led to another great idea.
“My wife shared the idea of also bringing muffin tins that you could put cups of soup in so you could easily sample the different soups,” Shepherd said. “Our group consists of six couples – so we had five different soups and one couple brought dessert.”
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The muffin tins proved to be a clever serving idea Soup selection: Tomatoes, vegetables, broccoli cheese, sausage tortellini and chicken tortilla.
“They were all delicious, but my favorite was the broccoli cheese soup,” Shepherd said.
Shepherd was so pleased with the potluck that he decided to share the idea on social media.
During the holiday potluck, muffin tins were used to hold the soup bowls. (Rob Shepherd)
“There can be a lot of negativity online and one of my goals is to provide positive content,” he said.
Shepherd said he joined TikTok in 2020 “just because I had more time.”
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“I post games, recipes and family fun,” Shepherd said.
And his soup batch was hot.
“I didn’t expect it to go viral like it did. There are 3 million views on TikTok and 3.9 million on Instagram,” Shepherd told Fox News Digital last week.
Before posting the video He had 1,500 followers on Instagram. After the video, the number of followers increased to 15,000.
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“I’m overwhelmed by the response,” he said.
Rob Shepherd’s Christmas soup potluck party with his church group featured five choices: tomato, vegetable, broccoli cheese, sausage tortellini and chicken tortilla. (Rob Shepherd)
There were thousands of comments on the post, but Shepherd named two of his favorites.
“Cheap, easy and a fun way to bring the family together, I’m so down,” wrote @kodarodriguez97.
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“This is my dream. Soup is my favorite food. I need new friends,” @BRXJ wrote.
Not only is Shepherd thrilled that his soup potluck theme is so well received, he’s also surprised by the reach of his post.
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“I get messages all the time from friends who were sent the soup video by their friends, and they’re really excited to let their friends know that they know me in real life,” Shepherd said.
“The whole thing was fun.”
