Lu Tze's Reflections

TC & YG 8

2009-04-28T23:32:00.000-07:00

For last night's Table Church we took a road trip to Tickenham where Gilly had prepared a very fine Chili for us all. This was washed down with 'sugary goodness' and various sorbets. An excellent repast. During the evening we talked about a variety of subjects. Jon had just finished a paper on Oliver Cromwell which led to a discussion about the merits of those who think they are right because they are on a mission from God.

After the main course we played 'Characters' from the Family Fun set produced by Talking Tables. I had bought these at our bring and buy over the weekend. They will no doubt prove quite useful at our TC gatherings.

As this was the last meeting prior to the MA presentation day I decided to seek some feedback on our experiment. The feedback was surprisingly positive and so I have recorded the responses given below.

Alex: TC stimulates discussion better that sitting in a room having a meeting. Being close around a table makes me feel more of a group.

Jon: In these gatherings everyone talks and i much prefer it to the old style meetings.

Michaela: I talk a lot more and am more engaged than before. I used to just switch off or go to sleep.

Natalie: It's very relaxing, and has taught me quite a lot about the Bible. It has opened up things for me. I am learning in a way that's not making me want to run away.

Gilly: Having a meal together makes the evening completely not like a meeting. We can talk and be relaxed when thinking about ideas and even begin to play with the ideas.

Table Church 5

2009-04-27T11:46:00.000-07:00

Another evening of Table Church brought some more new things. To begin with, we held the met ting at new venue for the first time. In order for Sean and Becky to join us we were invited to their house. This brought the number in the group up to eight.

I decided to allow the conversation to develop as was natural without resorting to an icebreaker, in order to put the new members at their ease. Later on we all shared in an exercise to do with brokenness. I took along a range of broken tile pieces and asked people to take as many as they liked. We then sat with these pieces and brought to mind the broken areas of our lives. Finally we laid the pieces around the cross to form a mosaic. The intention being to show how God is able to use our brokenness to form something new and beautiful when it shared with others.

Some interesting things happened during this activity. Some people wanted to move the pieces because they were not in the right place (in their view) others only wanted to place one piece, some placed their tiles on the very edge of the mosaic and then there was all the pieces that were not chosen and placed. This led to to a discussion about the nature of the church and our part in it and also about those who were left out in some way. This was perhaps the most interesting discussion so far and the most missional.

Breakfast

2009-04-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

We had one of our occasional breakfasts at church this morning. It was great just to look across the room and see everyone just enjoying each others company. There is certainly a difference when we begin with food - the ice is broken and the family is formed. It does lead to slightly messier beginning but it also loosens people's stays as it were. One of our children was prompted by the atmosphere to share about her father's cancer operation - it was very moving.

Random Quotes

2009-04-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

"... it's the really hungry who can smell fresh bread a mile away. For those who know their need, God is immediate - not an idea, not a theory, but life, food, air for the stifled spirit and the beaten, despised, exploited body." (Rowan Williams)

"We as a Christian community must serve up the new wine, prepare a table of the Lord's art even in the presence of our enemies, so that there is artistic food and drink which the body of Christ needs to be healthy." (Calvin Seerveld, A Christian Critique of Art and Literature)

The Hospitality of Polycarp - James Nesbitt

2009-04-18T08:13:00.000-07:00

“The Hospitality of Polycarp” was inspired by the short document “The Martyrdom of Polycarp,” written shortly after the old man’s execution sometime around 155A.D. A much revered bishop of Smyrna in Asia Minor, Polycarp was in his mid-80’s when he was arrested and executed in one of the long series of persecutions that besieged the Christian church over the first 300 years of its existence.

As the story is told in the ancient document, under torture a servant had betrayed Polycarp’s whereabouts to the Roman authorities and in time soldiers arrived at his door to arrest him.

“As soon as he heard them arrive, he went down and chatted with them; and everyone there was struck by his age and his calmness, and surprised that the arrest of such an old man could be so urgent. In spite of the lateness of the hour he at once ordered them to be given all the food and drink they wanted; and then asked if he might be allowed an hour to pray undisturbed. When they consented, he got to his feet and prayed; so full of the grace of God, that two whole hours went by before he could bring himself to be silent again. All who heard him were struck with awe, and many of them began to regret this expedition against a man so old and saintly.”

Marked by this same sense of regret over having to deal with Polycarp, later that night a police commissioner extends an invitation to the aged bishop to renounce his faith:

“They took him into their carriage, sat down beside him, and addressed him persuasively. “Come now,” they said, “where is the harm in just saying ‘Caesar is Lord,’ and offering the incense, and so forth, when it will save your life?”

Even in the arena, with the lions waiting to be released upon their prey, the Governor is said to have pressed him one more time:

“The Governor… went on pressing him. “Take the oath, and I will let you go,” he told him. “Revile your Christ.” Polycarp’s reply was, “Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He has done me now wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?”

In his interpretation of the events, Nesbitt compresses the force of these various attempts to let Polycarp recant into a single scene, set at the dinner table which has been offered to the arresting soldiers. While the 2nd Century account has the aged bishop in prayer during the meal, Nesbitt places Polycarp at the table with his captors, extending to them the sort of table hospitality which Jesus models throughout the gospels. Head lifted in laughter, Nesbitt’s Polycarp embodies a deeply challenging Christian truth: he is one who can not and will not confess any other Lord than Jesus, but he is also one who cannot do other than open his table to any and all, including those who would take his life. In this there are echoes of the observations Michael Welker makes regarding the last supper:

“The Supper makes clear that Jesus’ community is jeopardized not only “from outside,” but also “from inside” – even by his disciples. Judas’ betrayal, the disciples asleep in Gethsemane, and Peter’s denial make this clear. In the situation of external and internal danger, Jesus institutes the “memorial meal” of liberation.”

The occasion for the hospitality offered by Polycarp to his captors is triggered by a betrayal by one of his own servants, and yet, as with the last supper, it becomes a meal which proclaims the deep liberation found only in Christ.

Pre-worship Suppers

2009-04-18T07:48:00.000-07:00

Another excellent idea from the St Benedict's Table website (http://stbenedictstable.ca/news-events/). Perhaps this might be a variation of Table Church that we could employ at Mead Vale on a regular basis.

"Pat and Ian Mowatt have one more of their Sunday evening pre-worship suppers lined up, this one set for May 3. The idea is that they open their home to a group of up to a dozen guests, and share a meal and some hospitality before heading off to church for worship. "

Theology by the Glass

2009-04-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

An interesting idea found on the St Benedict's Table website (http://stbenedictstable.ca/theology-by-the-glass/)

"We are just about to again launch our occasional series of conversations called “Theology by the Glass.” These evenings are held monthly from May through September, when many of our regular activities are in summer break mode. Held in a local restaurant or pub, these evenings are about the most laid back approach to Christian education that you can imagine. Basically, an article is distributed a week or two in advance of the gathering, which acts as grist for our conversational mill."

TC @ YG 7

2009-04-15T02:01:00.000-07:00

This was an evening when more of the group were available than we first thought would be. First there was the welcome return of Michaela after the Gang Show and some illness. Then Jenny and Amie turned up unexpectedly. All of which led to a more interesting evening. Katy had gone crazy and cooked a delicious full chicken dinner with all the trimmings , and there was even chocolate cake for afters - woo! At table we discussed the Easter messages of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Pope - and their press coverage. It was easy to see how only the most controversial passages were recorded.

After this we have some time off over dessert with an outbreak of Rock Band and ended with an episode of the Big Bang Theory - which has recently become de rigor.

Almonds

2009-04-14T09:34:00.000-07:00

The almond is naturally bitter in taste and full of prussic acid. However occasionally a sweet almond is found. These mutations have been bred for us to enjoy. "If you think you can taste a hint of a prussic parable here, you're right. We're all connected by the gossamer web of shy pleasures and shared joy. The triumph of civilisation has always been to find the one sweet nut in the bag of bitter ones. And, boy, are we suffering a lot of bitter nuts at the moment.
PS: Most of the world's almonds are now grown America." (A. A. Gill - Table Talk)

A Fondness for Fondue

2009-04-14T09:26:00.000-07:00

"I could write a thesis on the pivotal cultural importance of the fondue set but I won't. It was a talisman and inanimate pathfinder of everything we consider contemporary. This simple cast iron pot with its meths burner and barbed forks stood on the cusp between two societies: one that looked back to the Edwardians for its instructions, and another that looked forward to a new, clean, abstract Elizabethan age."

Table Talk - A.A. Gill

The Bible & The Cabbage

2009-04-11T08:57:00.000-07:00

"The entry for cabbage in the Larousse Gastronomique starts with the heavenly sentence: 'The cabbage seems to have been unknown to the Hebrews. It is not mentioned in the Bible. I love that - so French. Just the slightest note of disappointment with God; just the merest raised eyebrow and pursued Gallic lip. You can imagine a French chef in confession: 'Bless me Father for I have sinned — but I'm not the only one: God left cabbages out of the Bible.'" AA Gill - Table Talk

TC @ YG 6

2009-04-11T08:22:00.000-07:00

A wonderful evening of Table Church with almost all the young people getting together in a big reunion Chinese meal. There was a great deal of noise and energy around the table and a really special feeling of having the whole YG family together for the first time since Christmas. As part of the evening I told the group the story of what I did the previous Sunday morning. A large group of children and young people turned up unexpectedly at church for the morning service. Unfortunately it was not particularly aimed at them and they soon got bored and left en masse. Prompted by the Spirit I followed them out and after catching up with them, explained that I was not cross with them but wanted apologise for the fact that the church had let them down.

What followed was sheer pantomime - we went to the swamp (a place I never knew existed) and sat in a tree and talked about what they thought church ought to be and what they would like us to provide for them. Then we had a brush with some swans and finally I returned to church with the service long over and things bring packed away. It was one of the best Sundays I have had for a long time. Katy suggested that we might do a version of Table Church for these kids after Easter just to see how it works.

YG found the whole story fascinating and much sharing followed. All in all the evening was the best TC so far with this group.

Table Church 4

2009-04-08T01:37:00.000-07:00

We met for our fourth and probably best meeting yet on Monday 6th April. Ostensibly the topic was Easter and yes we did spend some time just outlining the events from Palm Sunday through to Easter Day. But as always events had overtaken us. We ended up taking about two things that had occurred on the previous Sunday. Firstly I went walkabout after a group of children who came unexpectedly to Church and left half way through. I felt that I wanted to apologise to them for not meeting their needs and find out what they wanted from church. (More in the next post). We also shared about a service of thanksgiving that was held after the main service and seemed to open up a vein of healing for a number of people.

I also introduced some liturgy for the first time and we had a washing of hands as shared in a simple communion as our part of remembering the events of Maundy Thursday. The liturgy was based on material produced by Mark Berry on his Way Out West Blog. It proved very effective and shows that there is a place for it in the Table Church experience.

Alexis Soyer and Military Food

2009-03-29T08:26:00.000-07:00

For each team, the natural, national taste of their country emerges. The Americans cook big, with loud flavours, the Hungarians are honest and peasanty, the French are effortlessly the best. Far more than flags and anthems, food is the metaphor and symbol of where you come from and what you might choose to die for. The breakfast of armies is the most basic communion with what they're fighting for. Soyer was a foreigner who took to being English with an immigrant enthusiasm. He understood that armies don't just march on their stomachs; they get their camaraderie, bravery and patriotism through them.

A. A. Gill - The Dinner Party

2009-03-29T08:13:00.000-07:00

We are the only animals in God's creation who share our food with members of our own species to whom we are not related. There is a kitchen adage that says: 'If the food is the star of your dinner party then you're inviting the wrong people.' Let's face it: dinner parties are social events and the company is the main thing.

A.A. Gill - Table Talk (Orion Books 2008)

The Prayer of Humble Access

2009-03-29T07:54:00.000-07:00

We do not presume to come to this your table, merciful Lord,
trusting in our own righteousness,
but in your manifold and great mercies.
We are not worthy
so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table.
But you are the same Lord, whose nature is always to have mercy:
Grant us therefore, gracious Lord,
so to eat the flesh of your dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood,
that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body,
and our souls washed through his most precious blood,
and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen.

This wonderful prayer by Thomas Cranmer which we find in the heart of the service of Holy Communion from the time of the reformation, turns the the experience of the Canaanite woman and makes it our own. We, like her, knowing that we are complete outsiders but are drawing near anyway for the Bread of life - knowing also that His nature is always to have mercy.

The Heavenly Banquet

2009-03-29T07:42:00.000-07:00

In the story of the Heavenly Banquet mentioned in Luke 14:8-13, Jesus appears to offer an universal invitation and but not universal hospitality. However our continued presence is not determined by status but by the criteria for remaining welcome - the wedding robe. Which is reminiscent of the clothes put on in Colossians 3.

Dining Together

2009-03-29T01:41:00.000-07:00

Dining together is not only a sociable thing to do, it is also an experience through which relationships are formed and learning takes place. Meals invariably involve conversation and conversation involves listening which leads to empathy, challenge and change. Matthew (Levi) organises a symposium and invites Jesus not just to eat but to teach (Luke 5:29-35). In the course of the meal change takes place.

Eucharistic Food

2009-03-27T05:16:00.000-07:00

The act of remembrance comes through eating. We may not always remember what we eat but in Christ we eat what we remember. Christ both word and bread. He is the bread of life and always has been. In eating we take it into ourselves, and it becomes part of us and we part of it. The physical and spiritual become inseparable.

Fashion Taste and Eating Out

2009-03-27T03:59:00.000-07:00

The fashionability of dining out has meant that the practice has become more than a means for maintaining the body, it has become a source of shared cultural beliefs. For example, foodstuffs have frequently acquired social meanings that refer to properties beyond their nutritional qualities. In certain times and places, the taste for game has been associated with wealth and prestige because it was hunted by the landed gentry; oysters have been regarded as aphrodisiacs; truffles have been seen as embodiments of the mysteries of old Europe. Barthes has described food as 'a system of communication', 'a body of images', 'an intimate part of the protocol of social life'. Similarly, the places in which one eats carry various meanings; a restaurant has distinctions that a cafe, a tavern and a picnic do not. The diner sees in both the restaurant and its foodstuffs some broader social values; for example, a luxuriously appointed restaurant may evoke an aristocratic way of life long associated with the pleasures of being served by an indentured class. Or an appetite for and 'au courant' view that food is not a banal and simple ingredient in the maintenance of life but rather a cultural event and form of aesthetic in which its arrangement and colouring should be appreciated as if they were works of art. In these ways, the practice of dining out in a restaurant can also be seen as a purveyor of cultural values and social images; it is where we can learn to act and feel in accord with the desires of the times.

When people start flocking to a small, inner city bar because they have learned that cocktails are in (again), they also come to see that the hours spent over a gaudily coloured beverage are amongst their most pleasurable; when the pasta restaurant becomes the favourite haunt of the cosmopolitan it has much to do with his/her acceptance of the idea that ethnic diversity is attractive. The different meanings and cultural values attached to the various forms of dining out indicate that tastes in foods and preferences in the style of dining out are not independent of other features of the social epoch. Restaurants have been included in the orbit of fashions.

Fashion, Taste and Eating Out - Joanne Finkelstein
The Polity Reader in Cultural Theory (Polity Press: Cambridge 1994)

TC @ YG 5

2009-03-27T03:23:00.000-07:00

Another Tuesday - another YG gathering and a further opportunity to experiment with the TC format. This week we used some wise words of famous people on the subjects of Leadership and Service to stimulate the conversation over dinner. This proved quite effective and the balance between the two subjects meant that the focus was both inward (Leadership) and outward (Service). Here are two samples of the the quotations that we used.

Try not to become a person of success,
but rather a person of value - Albert Einstein

Life's most persistent and urgent question is
'What are you doing for others?' - Martin Luther King Jr.

The Perpetual Struggle for Room and Food

2009-03-24T11:32:00.000-07:00

The English economist Robert Malthus, in his essay "On the Principles of Population" written in 1798, uses this telling phrase to describe much of the the underlying motives of the human condition. He suggests that it is the cause of a 'prodigious waste of human life'. The basic need for food and shelter must be met before man can entertain much consideration of the nature of life and the existence of God. It is a struggle still being undertaken today by much of the developing world.

The Company Makes the Feast

2009-03-24T10:58:00.000-07:00

If you ever wondered where this phrase originated, then this is for you. Here are the results of my research. It was true in the 17th Century and remains so today.

Take this for a rule, you may pick out such times and such companies, that you may make yourselves merrier,‥for 'tis the company and not the charge [expense] that makes the feast.

[1653 I. Walton Compleat Angler iii.]

Epicurus maintained that you should rather have regard to the company with whom you eat‥than to what you eat. ‥This has been crystallised into the terse English proverb, ‘The company makes the feast.’

[1911 F. W. Hackwood Good Cheer xxxii.]

It is the company which makes the occasion, not the surroundings.

[1981 ‘J. Sturrock’ Suicide most Foul vi.]

A Comparison of the Life of Man (1598)

2009-03-24T10:49:00.000-07:00

Man's life is well compared to a feast,
Furnisht with choice of all Varietie;
To it comes Tyme; and as a bidden guest
Hee sets him downe, in Pompe and Maiestie;
The three-folde Age of Man, the Waiters bee:
Then with an earthen voyder (made of clay)
Comes Death, and takes the table clean away.

(Richard Barnfield, "A Comparison of the Life of Man")

A salutary thought on life and food from the Elizabethan era.

Table Church - Nourishment

2009-03-16T15:17:00.000-07:00

We had our third Table Church meeting tonight and the focus was on the things that nourish us - in body, mind and spirit. There were baked potatoes and fillings with fruit to follow. However much was made of the groups love of Pizza and chocolate (not together) and the possibilities of chocolate covered strawberries. We felt that we neglected our own nourishment or let it get pushed out by the pressures of life. We finished with the film '40' by Si Smith (available from Proost) with reminded us that Jesus nourished his faith in the desert which enabled him to deal with the hard times of temptation. Thank you everyone for a very good evening.

Interestingly this is my 100th post and it was about an actual Table Church evening.

TC @ YG 4

2009-03-15T12:51:00.000-07:00

On with the show - the young people are meeting again this week and I shall be with them after a brief spell away at the Ecumenical Church Council meeting (argh!). This time there will be desserts flown in from elsewhere - so that should be interesting. I am still pondering what the topic for the evening will be - should we connect with Lent or perhaps something will arise to tempt us into bringing our faith to bear on the world in which we live.

Table Church 3

2009-03-15T12:40:00.000-07:00

Our third evening of Table Church will be taking place tomorrow evening. It is going to be at our house and I believe that baked potatoes are the order of the day. Although we did have a small freezer crisis so there are all sorts of things that need eating up. Who would of thought that the Lord would provide a group of people especially to see that nothing goes to waste. We shall be thinking further about what it means to belong to the church and considering how we nourish our faith and that of other people.

Silent Eucharist

2009-03-15T12:33:00.000-07:00

Tonight as part of our Ikon Alternative Worship evening we held a silent Eucharist. From the invocation of the Holy Spirit with a huge windmill, to the bubbles signifying forgiveness and the action creed - the whole evening was a very powerful expression of the presence of God. In the midst of it all there was a table laden with bread and wine, candles pictures and prayers. It was a feast for all the senses and reminded us of the banquet to which Jesus constantly invites us.

Sleeping With Bread

2009-03-10T10:53:00.000-07:00

At the start of their wonderful book Sleeping with Bread: Holding What Gives you Life (Paulist Press, 1995) the Linns (Dennis, Sheila Fabricant and Matthew) tell the story of the children who were orphaned and left to starve during the Second World War. Many of those who were rescued and placed in refugee camps were discovered to be unable to sleep at night. Eventually the helpers discovered that, if the children were given a piece of bread to hold, they were able to go to sleep in the guarantee that they would find nourishment in the morning.

Quoted by Paula Gooder in her Lent Course - Lentwise (Church House)

TC @ YG 3

2009-03-06T12:41:00.000-08:00

The TC @ YG continues this coming Tuesday. This will be our third event and we hope that we will all be able to join together around the table. It will be evening with pie both shepherd's and apple. Perhaps we should also consider Pi - just why did God not make it an exact number like 3. Why is it such an odd thing? This may lead us to consider just why the world seems such an odd place and yet at the same time just right for us.

Here is a photograph of our last occasion and also of our trip to Plymouth to see Jenny at University. As you can see the main feature of the visit was chocolate cake. The TC is a moveable feast.

Belshazzar's Feast

2009-03-06T12:29:00.000-08:00

One of the most memorable occasions concerning food contained in the Old Testament is that of Belshazzar's feast recorded in the book of Daniel. Here is a meal that is completely earth bound. The company praise the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, whilst ignoring the creator who had provided all that they were sharing. God intervenes with the message that their days and the days of their kingdom are numbered. The connection between God and the table are literally writ large in this event. The table is the Lord's and he expects a place to kept for him.

Rembrandt created a famous image of the meal in his painting.

Moses And The First Fast Food

2009-03-06T12:18:00.000-08:00

Moses could in some way be regarded as the provider of fast food. The passover meal was cooked and served with the people standing and in their outdoor clothes because they had to be ready to leave as soon as God gave the word. Obviously the the golden arches originally stood for Moses not McDonald's.

The passover has become unbreakably connected with a meal shared among family, friends and strangers. All our shared meals owe something to the passover which calls us to gird our loins and live in anticipation of freedom.

Celebrating With Jesus

2009-03-04T09:15:00.000-08:00

"There is something fundamentally religious in celebrating a festival, because it gives an opportunity to rejoice in the bountiful gifts of God, which we find not only in food but also in relationships, leisure, games and relaxation. These pleasures are also fundamentally human, so it is no surprise that festivals involve eating and drinking. We are built to want to give thanks and we are built to socialize of course, we need to eat. So whether we are feasting at God in the presence of Christ or simply dining at home, let us remember God's gifts, his generosity to us, not only in food and drink but in Jesus Christ."

Gordon Giles - Fasting and Feasting (BRF)

Jesus and Hospitality

2009-03-04T08:29:00.000-08:00

‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.'
Matthew 25:34-35

These are the words of Jesus and they suggest that one of the first signs of faith in a person is the practice of hospitality. Here Jesus mentions food, drink and a welcome to the table. When practiced in life assures us of a welcome at his future banquet.

Adam's Apple

2009-03-04T08:16:00.000-08:00

This passage (Genesis 2) is not only about sin it about food. The question of choice - what to eat or what not to eat arises. In many ways we have taken for granted that God has the right to decide this issue for us. However in this supermarket age it has become more difficult for people to accept. Today we have so much choice that we over eat. Overeating is a form of disobedience and a rejection of our natural limitations - a form of slow suicide which rejects our accountability to God.

Based on Gordon Giles - Fasting and Feasting

Adam, Jesus and Food

2009-03-04T08:10:00.000-08:00

The link between Adam, Jesus and food is quite strong. Adam gives in to the eating of an apple, whereas Jesus resists the offer of bread making. Jesus says that he is the 'Bread of Life' and when Satan tempts him, it is to externalise that which he in his very being. It is almost a caricature of himself.

TC @ YG 2 Report

2009-02-25T06:25:00.000-08:00

Our second evening with the young people was as enjoyable as the first. I tried to be a little more intentional about the material that was the focus of our discussion. However I feel that I probably veered too much in the other direction which had the affect of inhibiting the natural flow of conversation just a tad. Still the food was good - especially the pancakes - and the group seemed to enjoy the meeting and so all was not lost.

We thought about journeying with Jesus based on John 14:1-7 with some ideas from a book by Paula Gooder called Lentwise. We agreed that journeys were better when undertaken with others and that Jesus would make a good companion.

TC2 Report

2009-02-24T11:02:00.000-08:00

Last night our TC group met for the second time. Meeting at the home of Stuart and Joni we were treated to good food and were forced to have pancakes - me and my big mouth - lol. Again the presence of the table - specially bought from IKEA for the purpose seems to allow the conversation to flow naturally. It does seem as though there is something fundamental different about eating and meeting.

This was a better meeting from the point of content and structure. The last gathering was a little meandering particularly as I was unsure of how it would go. This time we began with an icebreaker activity (From whom would you accept a dinner invitation?). This produced some interesting responses and made us think about Jesus eating with all sorts of people. We then watched the short film 'The Parable of the Sea' (http://www.ilovepinatas.com/#/sea/4532834375) which tells of the work of the little life saving hut. It is an excellent critique of the church and what happens when our vision disappears. This again provoked some interesting points of discussion - especially as to where is our 'life saving hut' at Mead Vale? Is it Messy Church and what is the missional value of Table Church? If there is no missional activity then there is a danger that perhaps we might become just a social club leaving the rescuing to others.

Life Group Social

2009-02-24T10:42:00.000-08:00

Last night our Life Groups went out for a meal at a local pub/restaurant. There were sixteen people all sharing together and enjoying the delights of the table. The evening went with a swing as can be seen in the photograph.

(There are more pictures to be found on our Facebook page - Mead Vale Church.)

The principle of the groups meeting together for social occasions usually including food was one of the founding principles from their inception. Not only does it give people from different groups the opportunity to meet together but it is also a place where partners and visitors can come and see Christians close to without being set upon with a tract.

TC @ YG 2

2009-02-24T10:26:00.001-08:00

Tonight sees our second TC evening with the youth group (YG). The last meeting was a great success and we have high hopes for tonight especially in the organisational stakes. Unfortunately some of the members of YG have pressing appointments with college work and family matters so we will be somewhat smaller than last time - still this means more pancakes for those who are there - yeh!

Table Church 2

2009-02-23T08:23:00.000-08:00

Our second meeting of the Table Church will happen this evening. I hope that one or two more people will be able to make it this time. We will be thinking about who we would be prepared to eat with and how the Bible can be God's word. Let's hope it leads to a lively evening. The people who came to the first one were eager to meet again and one of them offered to host us this time.

Where is Church in Luke 10?

2009-02-22T12:52:00.000-08:00

Where is community? Is this church?

"1After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.

5″When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. 7Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

8″When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. 9Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’ 10But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11′Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.’ 12I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town." (Luke 10:1-12)

Think about the question in relation to the text and then feel free to add your comments and insights to these reflections…

Where is community? Is this church? Community was identified in two places;

Firstly, in the dialogue between the Lord of the harvest and Jesus, which ushers in the missio dei of being sent out to where Jesus intends to go (verse 2).

Secondly in “table fellowship” in the practices of dwelling, eating and drinking among cultural networks. The gathered include the strangers (or Others in postmodern discourse).

The gathering allows the practices of gift-giving; as the visitor shares their gifts of “peace” and “healing” and the locals share their food and hospitality

The “table talk” includes the intentionality of an agenda of peace (holistic shalom); given and (potentially) received, and the Kingdom proclaimed in word and deed.

The “table talk” of the house (v. 5-7), is related and in dialogue to the talk of the town (v. 8-12); for there is a textual echo between house and town.

The “table talk” is caught in the tension between grace and judgement. Will peace be received or returned?

The “table fellowship” is not isolated, because they are linked to “sending” community. Thus we are offered a vision of church as local yet with a global horizon. Equally, they are a table with an eschatological view, for the “table fellowship” is waiting in anticipation for the coming of Jesus.

Conclusion: Luke 10:1-12 is a fascinating text within which to reflect on missional ecclesiology.

With thanks to the Tall Skinny Kiwi.

An Infinite Number of Occasional Tables

2009-02-19T10:50:00.000-08:00

"An Infinite Number of Occasional Tables"

I've got an occasional table
There it is over there
You can tell it's an occasional table
Today's its day off, it's a chair

I've got an occasional table
I can't seem to get it to settle
It's all been a bit unexpected
I thought I was buying a kettle

I took it upstairs on the bus
I always get the bus back from town
It was then it turned into a wardrobe
Took six of us to get it back down

I've got an occasional table
But some of the time I've not
I always rush me dinner
You never know how long you've got

I think I might have another
It skews the element of doubt
It's the kind of occasional table
That's only in when you're out

I thought if I had two they might breed
I'd really quite fancy a set
But with them both being occasional
I don't think they've actually met

I've got some occasional tables
I'm never quite sure where they are
I'd quite like to have a settee
But so far they've not gone so far

I think therefore I am
All we believe stems from this
Except my occasional table
Which only occasionally is

Perhaps there's a parallel universe
Where they all go to live quite a lot
Where they're called usual tables
And only occasionally not

An infinite number of occasional tables
Well then sure there was always one there
I've got an occasional table
Look, here it is, it's a chair

Les Barker

Something lighthearted to add a little leaven to the lump!

Spurgeon on Christ's Table Companions

2009-02-17T11:28:00.000-08:00

Now note that, on the night before His Passion, our Lord led His friends a step beyond ordinary friendship. The mere follower does not sit at table with his leader; the disciple does not claim to be a fellow-commoner with his master; the servant is seldom entertained at the same table with his lord; the befriended one is not always invited to be a guest; but here the Lord Jesus made His chosen ones to be His table-companions; He lifted them up to sit with Him at the same table, to eat of the same bread, and drink of the same cup with Himself. From that position He has never degraded them; they were representative men, and where the Lord placed them, He has placed all His saints permanently. All the Lord's believing people are sitting, by sacred privilege and calling, at the same table with Jesus, for truly, our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. He has come into our hearts, and He sups with us, and we with Him; we are His table-companions, and shall eat bread with Him in the kingdom of God.

Christ's Banquet Table

2009-02-17T11:23:00.000-08:00

Imagine that you have been invited to dinner at the home of the richest man in the world. You pull up a chair at a table two football fields long that's piled high with so much turkey, dressing, potatoes, bread, carrot cake, pumpkin pie, mixed vegetables, milk, and anything else you can think of that the table is about to break under the load. Your host tells you to take your fill of anything you see.

Thank you very much,' you say. 'Might I please have half a cranberry?'

Your astonished friend nearly chokes on a candied yam and replies,
'Please have all you would like. That's why I invited you! You're hungry, and here is everything you need to get full.'

'Thank you so very much,' you say. 'Perhaps I will have a sip of water.'

Ridiculous, we say. Who would ever act like that? If it were us, we'd gobble up so much food they'd have to use a bulldozer to move us out. Why is it, then, that when it comes to getting full spiritually, we settle for a half a cranberry? Paul doesn't want that for us, and in this passage he reminds us that in Christ we have all we need to be all that God wants us to be.

Not infrequently you'll come across people who say either in word or deed that their lives are impoverished. Sometimes, remarkably, you'll find a believer who for some reason is looking for something else. He is not satisfied. She is not filled full.

Remember: The extent to which you need something else to fill you full is the extent to which you find Christ deficient. If you find Christ deficient, then you have found something in contradiction of Scripture, which says that in Christ all the fullness of Deity resides in bodily form.

We've got to decide, Is it true that in Christ we have all that we need?

You'll find in the church today many people propagating all kinds of things that believers 'need.' Not infrequently these things that Christians 'need' have exceedingly tenuous connections to Christ, 'in whom all fullness dwells.' As soon as someone tells you that you need this, that, and the other thing, ask yourself, Is this in any way diverting my attention from Christ? Is there any sense in which this is perverting the gospel of Christ, which tells me all fullness is in him? If I get into this particular thing, will it in any way subvert the authority of Christ in my life?

Beware! Scripture declares that in Christ is all fullness, and if you are related to him, you have been given all fullness. We don't need something super-added, extra-plus to Christ. What we need is to daily discover all that we already have in him.

How much have you eaten off of Christ's banquet table? How full are you?"

John Calvin on Wine

2009-02-17T10:35:00.000-08:00

This quote which I found in a book called the 'Spirituality of Wine' by Tom Harpur came as something of a surprise to me as I expected Calvin to be less in favour of alcohol than it appears he was. A good lesson in being careful not to read 21st century sensibilities into the events of the past.

"Wine is God's special drink. The purpose of good wine is to inspire us to a livier sense of gratitude to God."

John Calvin

Stations of the Banquet

2009-02-17T10:29:00.000-08:00

"Food is at the heart of human culture. It is a part of all our lives. We each eat every day and hopefully more than once a day. It is a part of our material life as day six creatures yet it also opens us up to the Sacred... Our food ways reflect our relationships: with the earth, with each other and with God."

Cathy Campbell - Stations of the Banquet

The Upper Room Project

2009-02-17T05:30:00.000-08:00

The Upper Room Project meets the first Monday of each month (6-8:30pm) to engage with spirituality and justice as struggled with and fought for by the Prophets and Jesus. We meet in the S Bar (Shop 18, Village Walk, O’Sullivan Road, Glen Waverley ) with gallery space, discussion corners, opportunity for practical response and pondering space.We hope the upper room will be

Space to rest/relax with your tribe
Be challenged by the prophetic call of compassion
Connect with heartbeats for living

There will be food, wine and friends plus

a gallery space for photos and other art.
activist space - activities, information and people deeply into that topic to meet
conversational space - multimedia and communally led (an interview, music, texts, a place to chat)

Please bring your friends - all are welcome

This would appear to be a version of Table Church being operated under the banner of the Uniting Church of Australia. Here is their standard invitation blurb.

The Seeds Meal

2009-02-17T05:07:00.000-08:00

Central to the emergence of the Seeds Covenant has been the spirituality of the table. It is the gathered meal that often unites our efforts in knowing the word, growing home and going to engage the problems of our world. Some queries from our covenant point to the table.

How regularly will we come together around a common meal?

Who will be invited and made to feel welcome at the meal?

How will our meal reflect the Eucharist as practiced through history?

How will our meal reflect peace, justice and joy by making reconciling connections with God, others and the earth?

What practical processes and symbolic rituals around production and consumption of our food will shape the spirit of the meal and build a sense of home? (Who’s cooking and who’s doing the dishes? How and why?)

The following is an attempt to make our spirituality of the table more explicit and to make some of the words and processes we have found helpful more accessible. To celebrate and share different food traditions that exist among our Seedy Mobs and to inspire new production and consumption.

Some of the values of these meals take their cues from the “Slow Food” Movement which arose in Italy as a response to the negative impact of multinational food companies and is spreading around the world – slowly!

Slow Food opposes the standardisation of taste, protects cultural identity tied to food and seeks to safeguard processing techniques inherited from tradition. It involves valuing time to prepare, eat and build community through food.

It is sometimes critiqued as being an elite pursuit, however Jesus himself would often seek out the best feed in town! Far from extravagant eating, Slow Food is about the celebration of the connections that food can make with sustainable production and local food traditions that are often lost in our economy.

Slow Food has helped reframe our understanding of what it means to be “church” because If we read the gospels without getting hungry we aren’t really paying attention. The how, what, where and with whom Jesus eats is a central point of gospel conflict and ”understanding about the loaves” (Mark 6:52) is presented as essential to understanding Jesus’ ministry of recon-ciliation.

This ministry is symbolised in the offer of wilderness bread and of his body and blood in the Eucharist. Our prayer is that like the followers at Emmaus, it would be in the offer of hospitality to strangers, and at the breaking of bread that our eyes will be opened and that Christ may be made known among us.

Marcus Curnow

Invitation

2009-02-17T01:46:00.000-08:00

The table of Jesus is your place of gathering

Here you are welcomed, wanted, loved

Here there is a place set for you

So come all you who thirst,

All you who hunger for the bread of life

All you whose souls cry out for healing

Come all you who are weary

All you who are bowed down with worry

All you who ache with the tiredness of living

Come all you poor

All you who are without food or refuge

All you who go hungry in a fat land

Come all you who are lost

All you who search for meaning but cannot find it

All you who have no place of belonging

Jesus invites you

Draw near with faith

Receive the body of our Lord Jesus Christ which he gave for you and his blood which he shed for you

Eat and drink in remembrance that Christ died for you and feed on him in your hearts by faith with thanksgiving

From the 'Breakout' Liturgy by Grace.

Whose Table?

2009-02-17T01:38:00.000-08:00

"Most conversations about new forms of church or christian community are about rethinking the table at which the disciples sit. True confession… this project doesn’t emerge from any interest in that table, or even really in the disciples. I think the really interesting stuff of the gospels is the other stories - the tables Jesus went to where the disciples weren’t invited, or where they were so absent no-one thought to mention their presence - the afternoons at Mary and Martha’s, the nameless person’s house where Jesus met the syro-phonoecian woman, dinner at Levi’s house, dinner with Peter’s mother, the ‘water into wine’ wedding table… I think they’re the fun tables."

Cheryl Lawrie

The Table in Spain

2009-02-16T12:06:00.000-08:00

If you want to experience the soul of Spain, you need to sit at her table. Throughout the week, the people of Spain devote a lot of their leisure time visiting with one another over food. In traditional Spain, families have their main meal together during the noontime siesta. Later in the late afternoon, they gather at a café with their neighbours over delicious plates of jamón, manchego and olives. Often, the tapas bar is the same one they have gone to year after year – perhaps since they accompanied their parents as little children playing under the table.

Don Harris

A Selection of Blessings

2009-02-15T23:45:00.000-08:00

The custom of asking a blessing on the food before eating is an ancient one, and there are prayers for every style and mood. Here is just one from this website - Table Graces/Blessings at which a huge variety have been collected by Bass Mitchell.(http://www.homiliesbyemail.com)

Lord, some people have food and no friends. Some people have friends and no food. We thank you that on this night we have both. Amen.

it would not have been god's table

2009-02-15T23:30:00.000-08:00

On their own, the bread and wine are nothing.
To become a foretaste and a promise
of love made real and a world made whole,
they need a story and a blessing
and a people who believe…

It would not have been God’s table
if they hadn’t all been gathered around it:
the betrayer and the friend
the power-hungry and the justice seeker
the faithful and the fickle.

When Jesus poured the wine, and the bread was broken;
when everyone could eat -
the outcast and the beloved
the arrogant and the gracious
the wrong-doer and the wrongly done by -
the table became a foretaste
of love made real
and of a world made whole.

Your company at the table, Ross,
will include the betrayer and the beloved
the wrong-doer and the wrongly done by.

It would not be God’s table without them.

And the promise is
that when you are together,
when you tell the story and give the blessing
when you break the bread and pour the wine
you will discover a foretaste
of love made real
and of a world made whole.

My thanks to Jonny Baker for recording this liturgy on his worship tricks blog, and to the author Cheryl Lawrie who wrote this for a fellow chaplain.

Blessing The Bread

2009-02-15T09:40:00.000-08:00

A Litany for Four Voices by Carter Heyward
Adapted by Sandy Dodson

Voice 1: In the beginning was God
Voice 2: In the beginning, the source of all that is
Voice 3: In the beginning, God yearning
Voice 4: God, moaning
Voice 1: God, labouring
Voice 2: God, giving birth
Voice 3: God, rejoicing
Voice 4: And God loved what she had made
Voice 1: And God said, “It is good.”

Voice 2: Then God, knowing that all that is good is shared
Voice 3: Held the earth tenderly in her arms
Voice 4: God yearned for relationship
Voice 1: God longed to share the good earth
Voice 2: And humanity was born in the yearning of God
Voice 3: We were born to share the earth
Voice 4: In the earth was the seed
Voice 1: In the seed were the grain and fruit
Voice 2: In the grain and fruit was the harvest

Voice 3: In the harvest was the bread and wine
Voice 4: In the wine and bread was the power

Voice 1: And God said, All shall eat of the earth
Voice 2: All shall eat of the seed
Voice 3: All shall eat of the grain and fruit
Voice 4: All shall eat of the harvest
Voice 1: All shall eat and drink of the bread and wine
Voice 2: All shall eat and drink of the power
Voice 3: God said, You are my people
Voice 4: My friends
Voice 1: My lovers
Voice 2: My sisters
Voice 3: My brothers
Voice 4: All of you shall eat and drink

Voice 1: Of the bread, of the fruit
Voice 2: And the power
Voice 3: All shall eat and drink
Voice 4: Then God, gathering up her courage in love, said
Voice 1: Let there be bread and wine!

Voice 2: And God’s sisters, her friends and lovers knelt on the earth
Voice 3: Planted the seeds
Voice 4: Prayed for the rain
Voice 1: Sang for the grapes and grain
Voice 2: Made the harvest
Voice 3: Cracked the wheat and plucked the grapes
Voice 4: Pounded the corn and pressed the fruit
Voice 1: Kneaded the dough and strained the juice
Voice 2: Kindled the fire and filled the jars
Voice 3: Filled the air with the smell of fresh bread and fermenting fruit
Voice 4: And there was bread!
Voice 1: And there was wine!
Voice 2: And it was good!

Voice 3: We, the sisters of God say today
Voice 4: All shall eat of the bread, drink of the wine
Voice 1: And the power
Voice 2: We say today,
Voice 3: All shall have power
Voice 4: And bread, And drink
Voice 1: Today we say
Voice 2: Let there be bread. Let there be wine.

Voice 3: By the power of God
Voice 4: By the bread and juice of God
Voice 1: The power is blessed
Voice 2: By the power of bread and juice
Voice 3: The people are blessed
Voices 1,2,3,4: Amen

The Last Supper!

2009-02-15T00:40:00.000-08:00

I came across this unusual tomb whilst on my travels around the world wide web. I assume that the occupant was taking seriously the word of Jesus in Revelation and was thoughtful enough to provide a table for the meal.

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:20)

It would seem that even in death the powerful imagery of the table holds a great attraction for us and makes a statement about the manner of the relationship we desire with God.

Music For Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T00:23:00.000-08:00

The church held a special concert last night as part of the ongoing celebrations of our 30th Anniversary. Lotti Newstead and John Marsh gave a wonderful show, performing some of the great love songs of all time. A wonderful team of people came together in an ad hoc way to cook, decorate and wash up. They provided a tremendous meal of Somerset pork and three different desserts. Several people remarked that this was one of the best evenings they can ever remember the church producing.

Having said all of that - it was the meal that changed the dynamic. Instead of having everyone sat in rows watching a concert, the people sat in convivial groups around tables. The music and food were woven around the evening and complimented each other. The atmosphere greatly enhanced by the sense of family which was engendered by eating together. Indeed there was as loud a round of applause for the cook as for the musicians.

Winnie the Pooh's Thoughts about Food

2009-02-14T08:25:00.000-08:00

“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?”
“What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say Piglet?”
“I say, I wonder what exciting thing is going to happen today?” said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully.
“It’s the same thing,” he said.

TC @ YG Report

2009-02-11T07:46:00.000-08:00

We held our first table church evening with YG our young people's group last night. Nine of us gathered around an improvised table to enjoy a home cooked chicken dinner. The group included two people who had not attended ther group before. The meal certainly enhanced the conversation around the table which covered many subjects inlcuding: how to deal with difficult house mates and who we would or would not have dinner with. The evening was enjoyed by all and the new folk were quickly made to feel welcome. It was difficult to introduce a serious note but I suspect the secret is for it to be an organic not contrived process and that further experience and experiment will allow the real format to emerge.

Koinonia

2009-02-10T09:09:00.000-08:00

Koinonia is the Anglicization of a Greek word (κοινωνία) that means communion by intimate participation. The word is used frequently in the New Testament of the Bible to describe the relationship within the early Christian church as well as the act of breaking bread in the manner which Christ prescribed during the Passover meal [John 6:48-69, Matthew 26:26-28, 1 Corinthians 10:16, 1 Corinthians 11:24]. As a result the word is used within the Christian Church to participate, as Paul says, in the Communion of - in this manner it identifies the idealised state of fellowship and community that should exist, this we call - Communion.

The Rhythms of a Missional Church

2009-02-10T08:15:00.000-08:00

The Crowded House is a family of church planting networks and our network is called The Edge Network. The Edge Network have adopted five rhythms (influenced by Soma Communities).The rhythms are an attempt to encapsulate what it means to live the ten core values of The Crowded House. The values can be a little abstract so the rhythms spell out what it looks like to practice them in ordinary life. Here they are:
B. We bless
Each week we aspire to bless others in our Christian community and local neighbourhood in word, action or gift at least three times.

L. We listen

Each week we aspire to listen to God, looking for him to guide us through his word and Spirit. And we listen to people around us to understand their stories and the story of our culture.

E. We eat
Each week we aspire to eat or have a drink with people outside our immediate family at least three times, offering friendship and community.

S. We speak
Each week we aspire to tell people the story of Jesus and our story of Jesus, making Jesus a normal part of our conversations. And we speak to God through prayer, recognising our dependence on him in all things.

S. We sabbath

Each week we aspire to spend time in rest, praise, play, partying and creativity.

You’ll notice that together they spell the word ‘BLESS’.

Every month our three congregations gather together for what we call ‘Re:union’ and at the moment we are working through the rhythms. Each congregation has a rhythm ‘champion’ for the month who encourages people to think about and practice the rhythm we are looking at that month. The ‘champions’ then organise Re:union around the rhythm as a celebration of what we are doing. I produced a sheet for each rhythm to help the ‘champions’ shape the culture around that rhythm. I’ll be posting these over the coming day.

28 January 2009 — Tim Chester of The Edge Network
(With thanks to Mark Berry of Way Out West for pointing me to Tim Chester's blog)

TC at YG

2009-02-10T00:43:00.000-08:00

Tonight we begin to explore Table Church with our young people, and as it happens far more are coming along than normal (food and young people who'd of thought it!). As we gather around the table and eat a meal together, I am hoping that there will be relaxed atmosphere within which godly conversation and koinonia will arise.

The Table

2009-02-09T09:50:00.000-08:00

Here is another find from You Tube. Whilst the American presentation takes a little getting used to, the message of the piece is good. It promotes the idea of all of us being welcomed at God's Table and the need for us to be intentional in inviting people to take their place at the table.

Leeland - I Was Carried To The Table

2009-02-07T03:30:00.000-08:00

I found this video on YouTube (where else!) and thought that it might be appropriate. I like this idea that although we are not worthy to approach God he comes to us (Incarnation) and then takes us to the Table where the Father has prepared a banquet for us. (Psalm 23)

Eating as Worship

2009-02-06T11:58:00.000-08:00

“Have you found honey? Eat only as much as you need.” —Proverbs 25:16

When you walk into the bookstore and see a table filled with books on dieting, you know it must be January. After several weeks of over-eating all kinds of holiday foods, people in many cultures turn their attention to not eating.

Food plays an important role in Scripture. God uses it not only to bless us but also to teach us. Our misuse of food keeps us from knowing God in ways He wants to be known.

In the Old Testament, God gave instructions to Adam as to what to eat and what not to eat (Gen. 2:16-17). Later He gave the Israelites manna to convince them that He was God and to test them to find out if they believed Him (Ex. 16:12; Deut. 8:16). In the New Testament, the apostle Paul stated the proper attitude for everything we do, including eating: “Whether you eat or drink,... do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).

When we think of food as a friend that comforts us or an enemy that makes us fat, we miss the wonder of receiving with gratitude a splendid gift from God. Obsessive eating or not eating indicates that we are focused on the gift rather than on the Giver, which is a form of idolatry.

When eating becomes a true act of worship, we will no longer worship food.

By Julie Ackerman

Table Church for YG

2009-02-05T01:43:00.000-08:00

At our latest YG (Youth Group) meeting it was agreed that we would be the meeting half an hour earlier and share a meal together during which we shall have some simple liturgy and a relaxed conversation about God and issues concerning our shared faith. The young people were skeptical at first but came on board as soon as the food was mentioned. Last night at our church leadership meeting I relayed this news to the leaders and they decided we also ought to arrange some church breakfasts as well.

Matthew's Table - The Weekly Rhythm

2009-02-03T00:22:00.000-08:00

WEEKLY RHYTHM

Matthew's Table is a church stripped of its formality. We meet weekly to share in a community meal. We bring food to share with everyone and visitors and guests eat freely. During the meal we engage in a simple liturgy that we call a Weekly Rhythm:

BLESSING – The word "blessing" means "to empower to strength." We seek God's blessing and pass that blessing on to others. As we gather we intentionally speak words of blessing and affirmation over each other.

EATING – Sharing food has always been central to a shared life of community. We want to place worship and communion back where it began: as a delight in the middle of the shared table. We eat and drink in remembrance of Christ - looking back to the cross and forward to his return.

LISTENING – We believe that God is capable of speaking to us. We do not confine him to any particular medium, but we try to be attentive to his voice, wherever and whenever it speaks. We provide a period for reflection, meditation and listening to the voice of God.

LEARNING – We desire to take on the image of God and to participate in his plan. We seek out knowledge about God to help us to do this. We gather around the Scriptures and learn together, discussing issues that confront our world.

SENDING – We are ambassadors who bear God's image in the world. We remind ourselves regularly that we are sent to participate in God’s activity in both our local and global cultures.

Matthew's Table is a church affiliated to the Southern Baptists, which meets in Lebanon, Tennessee.

Table Church Report

2009-02-03T00:10:00.000-08:00

Last night (2.02.09) we held our first table church meeting. We gathered on a snowy night at the home of Mike and Jose Record and were greeted with hot drinks and hot food - wonderful - Thanks Jose. We then began to share very gently and quite widely about what these meetings might be like and could achieve. I said that I was not sure about how they would develop but that they were to be more about a faith conversation than about teaching or a formal session. During the evening the discussion ranged far and wide about church, faith and ourselves. Ironically on such a cold night it was a wonderful ice breaking event and I await with excitement the next occasion which is booked for 26th February at the home of Stuart and Joni Pascoe (8.00pm)

JAVA JOE'S

2009-02-02T15:03:00.001-08:00

IMAGINE . . .

The re-emergence of church interiors as public spaces.
Your local church as an open-door hangout.
A church with great coffee and good food.
A place to work, rest, and pray.

Matthew’s Table is re-imagining our church life in a Third Place context by owning and operating Java Joe's as a unique place that is the hub for the life of our community of faith and centre for the expressive arts.

‘Third Places’ are neither home nor workplace, but somewhere in between. They are places to meet, socialize, relax, hang out, and work away from the office. They are places to eat and drink without pressure to consume and move on. The ‘third place’ is characterized by the modern coffee house.

Third places then are hubs of community life and facilitate and foster broader, more creative interaction. All societies already have informal meeting places; what is new in our day is the intentionality of seeking them out as vital to our current societal and spiritual needs.

Ray Oldenburg, an urban sociologist from Florida, coined the term and suggests these hallmarks of a true “third place”:

Relatively inexpensive food and drink is available.
Must be highly accessible: proximate for many.
Must involve regulars - those who habitually congregate there.
Must be welcoming and comfortable.

Church as a third place isn’t about a cafe attached to a church, it’s about the transformation of whatever place is available. No longer is a private, “sacred” place used only for services but is itself offered as a service to the whole community. Nor is a public place off-limits in the exploration of faith, worship and life. When church is a third place, the services take place in a public environment among the sofas and tables - which is a challenge to what usually happens in worship. And if worship is adapted to this environment, could it happen elsewhere, in any place?

For some people is will be about engaging with the Christian faith in a new way – for some it will be about taking their faith and exploring it in new ways, for others it will be about asking questions about the Christian faith in a new environment, for all it is about finding our role in God’s story.

Java Joe’s is not a substitute or alternative to Church but is distinct in:

WHERE IT MEETS – Not in church or at home but in an accessible open community space where people would naturally meet.

WHO COMES – This is not a members only organization but one where anyone will feel at home with their questions and doubts.

WHAT IT DOES – People exploring and sharing in an open and honest way how we live our lives in the light of the Gospel.

The Table is a Powerful Symbol

2009-02-02T14:53:00.000-08:00

In sitting at table and eating with sinners as well as the righteous, Jesus showed his welcome to all of God’s children and invited each of them to follow him. The table is the place where we gather as the people of God to meet the risen and living Christ in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The table reminds us of fellowship, love, and support experienced in meals shared with family and friends. All in all, the table points to the fellowship, discipleship, and spiritual nourishment offered to strengthen us all for life’s journey.

Table Church in Mead Vale

2009-02-02T03:36:00.000-08:00

We are now about to begin our experiment with Table Church. The first thought was to work with a group of people who had recently been confirmed and were therefore only just starting out on the Christian journey. The Table would become a place of community, discipleship and mission for this group as they grew in faith. However events have overtaken this original plan and two other expressions of the table have now begun to emerge alongside the original.

YG
The youth group YG which has been in existence for many years is now undergoing a final metamorphosis owing to the fact that the majority of the group are now at University or will be heading there this September. The need for formal programming has in many ways broken down and the group has been focused around food for some time. Our though is to move it gently further down the path it has been already taking. The meetings will now be set around a meal with conversation and an opportunity for people to share the stories of their faith journeys. It will be interesting to see if this approach deepens the faith of those who attend.

Messy Church
Our Messy Church has been in existence for abuot 15 months now and is a powerful blessing to us all. In addition our planning meetings always centred on a shared meal which seems to enable to sort out the business in a relaxed spirit. There are then connections here to the table experience which I shall try to draw in.

Sainsburys
There is no coffee shop within Mead Vale and therefore nowhere to conveniently promulgate a coffee based table church. However recently I took a small group of the church to lunch there. This group consisted of a number of people who are all involved in the "Exploring Christianity" course developed by the Diocese of bath & Wells as a prelude to Readership. This group wanted some background on the New Testament and so whilst we eat soup together I chatted with them on this subject. The discussion was going very well, perhaps because of the table setting and then a woman who had been sitting next to our table joined in with questions for about 15 minutes. This incident has prompted me to consider whether a regular Biblical lunch would be good as a tool for discipleship but also place a living discussion about the Christian faith into the melee of the shopping centre. It is an exciting prospect.

The Family Table

2009-02-02T03:02:00.000-08:00

The family table is, perhaps, the most sacred piece of furniture in most of our homes. The table symbolizes family relationships. one belongs at the table. the table is a symbol of love & harmony, unity and good manners. Only for the most serious of infractions is the child ever expelled from the family table. There too at the Communion table, is bread & wine, and fellowship. The table symbolizes family, it conveys warmth and it speaks of caring and support. It is where needs, spiritual as well as physical, are met.

A Place at the Table

2009-02-02T02:40:00.000-08:00

I found this poem on the Internet and just wanted to share it with everyone.

For ev'ryone born, a place at the table, for ev'ryone born, clean water and bread,
a shelter, a space, a safe place for growing, for ev'ryone born, a star overhead.

And God will delight when we are creators of justice and joy, yes, God will delight when we are creators of justice, justice and joy!

For young and for old, a place at the table, a voice to be heard, a part in the song,
the hands of a child in hands that are wrinkled, for young and for old, the right to belong.

For ev'ryone born, a place at the table, to live without fear, and simply to be,
to work, to speak out, to witness and worship, for ev'ryone born, the right to be free.

Lucy Moore on Food

2009-02-02T02:27:00.000-08:00

Lucy Moore the author of two books on Messy Church was speaking at the Christian Resources Exhibition in Exeter last week and during her talk she referred to the meal time that forms an essential part of every Messy Church meeting as "the sacrament of eating together". Not perhaps an earth shattering thought but it does point the way to a consideration of the place and purpose of the Communion in the discussion of the connection between the table and the church. It is this area that I will be considering over the next few posts.

Martin Luther's Table Talk

2009-02-01T11:22:00.000-08:00

"Table talk" is the English translation given to the German word Tischreden, the collected thoughts and comments by Martin Luther during the latter years of the great sixteenth-century Reformation.

Compiled in volume 54 of the works of Martin Luther published by Fortress Press, the collection is a daily compilation of the conversations, proclamations, and dissertations by the Doctor with his friends, colleagues, students, and fellow mavericks at the daily dinner table.

In these daily reports and summaries, Luther comes across as being the wise old professor-reformer whose economy of language is indicative of a man who has fought the battles and envisions a direction that will change the life of the Western Church. The atmosphere of mentor and student, colleague and stranger, ex-priests and new clerics - all at table talking what interests them the most: the new Christian Church.

'Come to the Table' by Shelley Campagnola.

2009-02-01T10:38:00.000-08:00

"The Table speaks to the place Christ has given us to come together, no matter who we are, where we have been, what we have done, how old we are, where we might be heading, and what we might be believing at this moment in time. It is the place where we can dialogue, be silent, contribute, receive, accept and be accepted and through a little piece of bread, for a moment, forget all of our differences and celebrate our oneness and our call. It asks, “Who will we invite to the table? Will we invite the same people that the Head of the table invites? What attitudes will we bring?”"

An extract from a summary of 'Come to the Table' Landing the Missional Church in Canada by Shelley Campagnola.

The Use of the Word Table in Church Names

2009-02-01T09:17:00.000-08:00

There are a number of churches which use the word table in their name but it seems as though there is very little reference to it after that. Indeed some of them seem to be just the standard church set up with just a glance towards the table. Here are some of the ones I discovered which consider the table to a greater or lesser degree.

http://www.welcometablechurch.org/

http://www.tablechurch.com/

http://www.beggarstablechurch.org/

http://www.commontable.org/

http://www.theshepherdstablechurch.org/home.html

http://www.thelordstable.org/

http://opentableofchrist.org/

Norbert Elias - The Civilizing Process (1978)

2009-02-01T01:23:00.000-08:00

Elias in his book 'The Civilizing Process' provides accounts of books of etiquette and table manners from the 13th to 19th centuries. He suggests that the removal of these things has been taken to show that society is becoming less civilized. Perhaps however civilization is always just a veneer beneath which our lesser demons are held in check. The thickness of the veneer depends on how much we buy into it.

Elias contends that the modern condition implies a collapse of an eating community as a structuring principle of social life and also manifests a tendency to a marginalisation of the meal. He asks the question. If the consumption of food has been increasingly deregulated in this way, if shared meals have lost their importance and if food is consumed increasingly in the form of snacks, to what extent does this represent a reversal in the civilizing process?

However, less formal does not necessarily mean less civilized, but perhaps it is true that the less communal meals become the less influence they have as structuring principle. What has this to say to the church and its shared meal of communion?

Eating Out Versus Eating In

2009-01-31T01:02:00.000-08:00

The question arises as to whether conviviality is confined to the privatised family meal or can it be achieved when eating out in company (family or otherwise)? Of course for the majority of the guests a dinner party is the equivalent of eating out even though it takes place in someone's home. But what about the situation in the neutral venue of an eatery.

Restaurants try to provide more than just food - a total eating experience - themed venue, specialist tastes. Eating out alone whilst often necessary is not popular. Whereas eating together at a venue is to a degree in some places (the USA in particular) the new family meal. Popular American TV programmes trade on this feature. The seminal role of the coffee shop 'Central Perk' in the hit show 'Friends' as the place where the group would meet share life set a trend which popularised the coffee shop in the UK.

In the series the 'Gilmour Girls' the coffee shop has become the local diner and the family are almost proud of the fact that they rarely eat at home. However there is a formal dinner party and the grandparents house every Friday night which seems to contrast the habits of the present generation with those of the previous one.

The BBC Discovers Fresh Expressions

2009-01-31T00:54:00.000-08:00

My thanks go to Beckie Pickering for the following article which was published on the BBC website and refers to the Fresh Expressions movement within the church. Mark Berry is mentioned heavily and he was the orginator of the Table Church idea in its current incarnation. The article may not say much that is new to the experienced Fresh Expressions practicioner but it show that the world outside the church is beginning to notice that new things are happening.

But however welcoming churches are, the conventional Sunday service won't appeal to everyone, and so the CofE, in association with the Methodists, also has a programme called Fresh Expressions aimed at finding new forms of church for those reluctant to set foot in a traditional building.

This can be a social event - meeting at someone's home to share a meal and to talk - or it can mean social work, getting out in the community to make connections.

"We think of it as our R&D department", says Archdeacon Jackson. "We want church to be a verb not a noun," is a favourite phrase from Fresh Expressions enthusiasts, who often talk of "emerging churches"

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7853494.stm)

Metonymns

2009-01-30T15:18:00.000-08:00

"The family meal and dinner table are potent symbols even metonymns (a substitute for) of the family itself. "

Deborah Lupton - Food, the Body and the Self London Sage 1996

The family meal is a practice through which we produce and reproduce human culture and through which we recogniser ourselves as belonging to a culture. The family meal can be defined in a broader way here than the Sunday lunch, so as not to exclude any part of society for financial or other reasons. For the middle class woman the family meal may symbolise love and care, whereas for the poor woman putting a meal on the table is more likely to be an assertion of survival.

Oxo Family

2009-01-30T14:07:00.000-08:00

De Vault argues that meals are a means of producing home and family. The legendary Oxo family of TV advertisement fame, evolved over time and then were finally dropped as not being realistic enough to speak to the modern household.

" The Oxo advert reinforced the importance of eating together."

Nick Nairn

"Good food and good conversation matter. Solitary grazing is depressing."

Bel Mooney

"When families stop eating together community is diminished...family without community... is the worst of all worlds. The contact, that thing which makes us learn to be human is missing."

Nigella Lawson - The family that eats together - The Observer 5th September 1999.

Food and Family Ideology

2009-01-30T13:46:00.000-08:00

"The sharing of food is seen as indicative of a close relationship. Conversely when petitioning for divorce one of the indications of separation is that meals are no longer shared by marital partners. The sharing of food is therefore something that happens within family households and is an indication of their existence."

(Charles, N (1995), "Food and family ideology", in Jackson, S, Moores, S (Eds),The Politics of Domestic Consumption, Prentice-Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, Hemel Hempstead)

The Proper Meal and the Family Meal

2009-01-30T13:27:00.000-08:00

For Delia Smith the 'Proper Meal' becomes attached not only to ideas about tradition but also to our emotional and spiritual health. This is not simply about what one eats but how we eat - the 'Proper Meal' must take place at a table, shared and promotes sociability and conversation. For Smith this equates to home cooked Sunday lunch and is mirrored elsewhere in other texts and in the practice of the people.

Delia Smith on Eating Together

2009-01-26T03:36:00.000-08:00

"I have an instinct that perhaps our current preoccupation with healthy eating has eclipsed what I consider to be a very health-giving joy of more traditional cooking, of eating gathered round a table enjoying conversation, good food and good wine."

Delia Smith - The Winter Collection 1995

Cultural Formation -Table and Church

2009-01-24T08:38:00.000-08:00

"All cultural formation contains elements of the dominant, the residual and the emergent."
(Raymond Williams - Culture and Society 1975)

Food

Dominant - The Supermarket
Residual - The corner shop or local market
Emergent - Internet Shopping

Church

Dominant - Anglican, Catholic and New Churches
Residual - Denominationalism
Emergent - Fresh Expressions and Emerging Church