Students and Harvard community members enjoy pizza and drinks at Reverend Jonathan L. Walton’s inaugural Sparks House tailgate.

In preparation for Harvard football’s first night-game of the year, the staff and clergy at Memorial Church gathered for the inaugural Sparks House tailgate, braving the rain that put a slight damper on the celebration.

“Bummer about the rain,” said Lucia R. Hulsether, a second-year student at the Divinity School and seminarian at Memorial Church. “It was a little bit of a bust the first day,” she added, “but look for us next home game—you have a rain check.”

Despite of the inclement weather, there was a strong turnout from Memorial Church’s congregational community and freshmen students who intended to use the tailgate as an opportunity to hold a joint entryway study-break.

“Rain can’t stop fun and fellowship,” said Reverend Jonathan L. Walton, the recently appointed Pusey Minister and Plummer Professor of Christian Morals.

“There’s a biblical verse that says wherever two or three are gathered, I am one in the mix,” he added. “All you need is two or three people and you have fellowship.”

Matthew J. Disler ’16, one of the attendees, said that several of his freshmen community events have previously been hosted at Memorial Church.

“My entryway has spent a lot of time in the Church both for study breaks and for Community Conversations at the beginning of the year,” he said. “It’s really cool, I’m glad they make the space available. I’ll probably be attending future tailgates.”

The tailgates were designed to create an opportunity for students to get to know the Church and its community, part of a larger initiative to better integrate the Church with the student body. The event was originally slated to be held at Sparks House, but was moved to the Church due to the rain.

Christine E. Whiteside, an administrative assistant, likened the Church to a colonial New England meetinghouse.

“The meetinghouses were places of worship first and foremost, but they were also the central meeting point for everything else that happened in the community,” she said. “That’s what we hope Memorial Church can be more like. We want it to be welcoming—where people can celebrate, study, worship, sing, and tailgate.”

Nathaniel P. Katz, the Epps Fellow at Memorial Church, emphasized the community-building benefits of the tailgates and of MemChurch Café, which will replace the former Wednesday Tea tradition.

“At the end of the day, the idea behind the Tea—hospitality—will never expire, but in that iteration it was really dependent on [the late Reverend Peter J. Gomes] and his spirit,” Katz said. “I’m hoping that the tailgates are going to be a sort of new, visible, engaging opportunity for people to explore the Church community.”

The tailgate was the first in a series of events that Walton and the Memorial Church staff plan to host at Sparks House over the course of the semester.

“We’re going to be throwing parties for every football home game and absolutely for the upcoming basketball season,” Walton said. “I might even paint my body for that,” he added.

—Staff writer Matthew M. Beck can be reached at mbeck@college.harvard.edu.