WICHITA, KS — A tuna noodle casserole that appeared at last Sunday’s fellowship lunch at Prairie Hills Baptist Church has been traced through at least five congregations over what food historians estimate may be a continuous circulation period of up to seven years, making it what researchers believe is the oldest known potluck dish still in active rotation in the state of Kansas.

The dish, which arrived in a 9x13 Pyrex pan with a strip of masking tape reading “Bev’s,” was first flagged when church member Donna Pruitt, 63, noted that she had “definitely seen this exact casserole at First Methodist in 2021.” A subsequent investigation by the fellowship committee confirmed sightings at three additional churches across two denominations.

“We followed the trail,” said committee chair Ron Hedrick, 58. “First Methodist to Grace Lutheran to Crosspoint Nazarene to a nondenominational plant that folded in 2023, and then somehow here. Nobody knows who Bev is.”

“I tasted it. It tasted like every church potluck I’ve ever attended. It tasted like eternity.”

Pastor Jim Dooley, 55, offered the above comment, adding that he ate two servings “out of pastoral obligation” and experienced “no immediate symptoms.”

The church has sent a sample to the county health department for analysis, though Hedrick noted that “it passed the sniff test, which is really the only test we’ve ever applied to potluck food.”

Several members have proposed retiring the dish in a small ceremony. Others argue it should continue circulating “as a testament to the endurance of the church.”

At press time, the casserole had already been transferred to a visiting family from a neighboring church who “said they’d bring it back next week,” though no one is confident they will.