Table Talk

An interesting Table Church practice which is to be found at:http://www.peacechurch.org.uk/about/tabletalk/

Table Talk

Table Talk is a figment of the Birmingham community in particular, inspired by ideas from friends of the community, but seems to be gaining a larger amount of interest from elsewhere all the time.

In essence, Table Talk is an animated community discussion on a chosen subject over a delicious meal. At each meal we have a guest who is a scholar, expert or authority of some description on the subject at hand.

Table Talk is not an after dinner speech. It is a conversation, a discussion and a dialogue, with our guest expert as an authority, a facilitator and a guide through the subject at hand.

HOW WE'VE DONE IT
The meal is always set in someone's house. That's where we gather as a faith community, that's the point of connection with the communities we live in, that's where our faith is lived and experienced, so that's where we wrestle with our faith in public.

Usually we've started the conversation with our guest giving us a 5-minute thumbnail sketch of the subject, the general and/or historical positions on the issues and outlining their particular angle on it.

We've often had a few questions to create a structure and direction for the discussion, but those are frequently passed over as the conversation takes a path of its own. Often, though, there's someone who has the overall responsibility of keeping the conversation developing and averting discussions from going in circles, if possible.

We've had two basic understandings:

• No question is too simple
  Usually the simplest question is the one that really gets to the heart of the matter.
• No question is too heretical
  Table Talk is a safe place where any question can be asked in the search for truth. If you can't ask it anywhere else, here you can.

Numbers are quite crucial to get right. We've had anything from 8 to 18 people. Different numbers of people give different dynamics: smaller groups are often more intimate and give more chance for everyone to talk, but can make people for exposed or intimidated by the expectation to participate; larger groups often have a real buzz, there's usually a greater diversity of views and those who feel overwhelmed tend to find it easier to be a passenger if the need to, but they can result in just the gregarious and vocal individuals talking and others being marginalised a little. Both extremes are good for different reasons; both have their drawbacks. And something in between isn't necessarily preferable either. It's just something we've had to get a feel for each time. It is basically limited by the number of places around the table.

Food is important - we've tried to share the responsibility so no-one gets overburdened. We've always had quite a feast and some good wine usually helps to get the conversations flowing.

SUBJECTS AND TOPICS
We've always tried to pick a good one - something that's going to be challenging, stimulating, deep and frequently controversial. Topics so far include:

• Universalism
• Divinely ordained violence in the Bible and the nature of God
• The non-violent atonement
• Shalom: putting the secret of the universe to the test
• Mission in the post-modern milieu