Posted: June 26th, 2010 - 6:16am by Doug Powell

People weren’t so lucky at this potluck.

After a Sunday church service last week, 40 members of a Cary, NC, Baptist church caught what media described as a stomach virus, including the pastor's family.

About 140 people gathered for Sunday worship at North Cary Baptist Church on Reedy Creek Road and then ate a potluck lunch together, said Pastor Mark Minervino.

Soon after, people began falling ill and vomiting, he said. At first, they thought it was food poisoning, but the illness passed between family members at different times.

They later discovered a child in the church had been ill two days before the pot luck. The child was not there Sunday, but relatives were, Minervino said.

The pastor spoke with a Wake County Health Department official, who told him it is probably the norovirus, a stomach bug that swept through Wake County earlier this year.

The church will be open Sunday, Minervino said, adding the outbreak has brought the congregation closer.

"They have such good spirits, and it's really drawn us to watch over one another.”