Dinner Church Training Coming to Orlando
By Shannon Kiser, Fresh Expressions, Director of Training and Coaching
Have you been wondering how your church might connect with those in your community who are not likely to show up at your doors on a Sunday morning? Many churches are finding hope and energy around an ancient practice: spiritual community around a shared meal. Dinner Church.
What is a Dinner Church? It is more than a congregational meal in your fellowship hall and it is more than a soup kitchen for the food insecure in your neighborhood. It is sacramental community that forms around a shared meal, mutual friendship, and the good news of Jesus Christ…that actually feels like good news. It is as ancient as the meals Jesus shared with people as an embodiment of the kingdom of God, and as formative as the early church that met in homes and broke bread together. In a disconnected and spiritually grasping world, expressions of Dinner Church are connecting postmodern people to a God who loves them and to genuine, humble, patient community centered around Jesus.
It is affordable, doable, and churches of any size can bring this vision to life. Taking its cue from Jesus as a way of gathering lost, alienated, broken, questioning, people, Dinner Church is transforming the lives of individuals and of congregations. The Kingdom comes and God’s will is done…often around a table and a meal.
Dinner Churches are cropping up in trailer parks, community centers, church social halls, homes, restaurants, community gardens, and more. Some Dinner Churches are more liturgical, embracing some of the ancient liturgies of the church and deeply formative practices around the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Other Dinner Churches are more informal, engaging spiritual questions or Jesus stories in conversations around tables. Some Dinner Churches gather in urban centers with those who have been marginalized and ignored, some Dinner Churches gather in suburban enclaves with those longing for meaningful connection, and still other Dinner Churches gather in small towns and rural settings to form a deeper experience of loving God and neighbor.
There is a unique opportunity to learn, experience, connect and engage with this new missional model this fall at The Dinner Church Summit, which is coming to Orlando in November. Convene with other pilgrims and practitioners who are giving themselves to this work; some people just starting out and others who are veterans at hosting guests at a Jesus Table. Learn practical methods and strategies, gain creative approaches, make friends and connect with others who see this as an effective means of being church in a changed world.
In a culture of fast food and hectic lives, what could Jesus do if we gathered a ragtag group of people around a dinner table and broke open our lives together in the presence of God? Probably more than we could ever ask or imagine! That’s the heartbeat of Dinner Church.
https://freshexpressions.com/2023/07/26/should-your-church-start-a-dinner-church
https://freshexpressions.com/2023/06/21/turning-tables-how-to-help-your-congregation-warm-up-to-dinner-church
What is a Dinner Church? It is more than a congregational meal in your fellowship hall and it is more than a soup kitchen for the food insecure in your neighborhood. It is sacramental community that forms around a shared meal, mutual friendship, and the good news of Jesus Christ…that actually feels like good news. It is as ancient as the meals Jesus shared with people as an embodiment of the kingdom of God, and as formative as the early church that met in homes and broke bread together. In a disconnected and spiritually grasping world, expressions of Dinner Church are connecting postmodern people to a God who loves them and to genuine, humble, patient community centered around Jesus.
It is affordable, doable, and churches of any size can bring this vision to life. Taking its cue from Jesus as a way of gathering lost, alienated, broken, questioning, people, Dinner Church is transforming the lives of individuals and of congregations. The Kingdom comes and God’s will is done…often around a table and a meal.
Dinner Churches are cropping up in trailer parks, community centers, church social halls, homes, restaurants, community gardens, and more. Some Dinner Churches are more liturgical, embracing some of the ancient liturgies of the church and deeply formative practices around the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Other Dinner Churches are more informal, engaging spiritual questions or Jesus stories in conversations around tables. Some Dinner Churches gather in urban centers with those who have been marginalized and ignored, some Dinner Churches gather in suburban enclaves with those longing for meaningful connection, and still other Dinner Churches gather in small towns and rural settings to form a deeper experience of loving God and neighbor.
There is a unique opportunity to learn, experience, connect and engage with this new missional model this fall at The Dinner Church Summit, which is coming to Orlando in November. Convene with other pilgrims and practitioners who are giving themselves to this work; some people just starting out and others who are veterans at hosting guests at a Jesus Table. Learn practical methods and strategies, gain creative approaches, make friends and connect with others who see this as an effective means of being church in a changed world.
In a culture of fast food and hectic lives, what could Jesus do if we gathered a ragtag group of people around a dinner table and broke open our lives together in the presence of God? Probably more than we could ever ask or imagine! That’s the heartbeat of Dinner Church.
https://freshexpressions.com/2023/07/26/should-your-church-start-a-dinner-church
https://freshexpressions.com/2023/06/21/turning-tables-how-to-help-your-congregation-warm-up-to-dinner-church