Fish sandwiches and Catholics Lent starts tomorrow. I didn’t grow up observing Lent, really. I was always reminded of it when fish sandwiches went on sale at McDonald’s, and I knew it had something to do with Catholics. I wasn’t sure what it had to…
Telling Our Stories in Community
This Sunday we will begin a practice at our gatherings that will allow us to know one another more deeply. One or two people will participate each Sunday, and we’ll continue until everyone who wants to has had a chance to share. Here’s the exercise: Storytelling Exercise 1.…
Why (and How) We Practice Communal Discernment
Polycentric pneumacracy! As a community, we at The Table are committed to polycentric leadership. Polywhatsahoozie? Polycentric: Poly = short for polyester; centric = at the center. So all of our leaders wear polyester jeggings. Just kidding. Wouldn’t that be awesome, though? In all seriousness, poly means “many, much.”…
Why (and How) We Practice Mutual Submission
Practices trump values Why do we articulate our practices at The Table? Because what we actually do reveals and cultivates who we are becoming, what we value, and how we believe. One of our practices is called mutual submission. What is mutual submission? As disciples of Jesus in…
Why (and How) We Practice Proclamation And what in the world does that mean?
Practicing Proclamation? One of our practices at The Table is proclamation (or “Gospeling”) Specifically, proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But what does that mean? Many of us perhaps think of Billy Graham, preaching the gospel to thousands in a stadium. What in the…
Every Church is a Liturgical Church
I first began dreaming about planting a church back in 2005, partly because I was beginning to see some weaknesses in the stuff we did on Sundays every week. We were a Vineyard-esque evangelical church, so we’d sing worship songs for 30 minutes or so,…
Learning to Parent from Jesus’ Father
Two times the Father speaks audibly to the Son, each before the Son was to endure great suffering (Baptism – Matt 3, Mount of Transfiguration – Matt 17), both times saying the same thing. Did he give him a pep talk? Threaten him with punishment…
How Asking Questions is Transforming My Parenting
One afternoon I was scrolling through Instagram and noticed a friend’s pictures from our local Intermediate School’s Awards Day earlier that morning. “*Gasp!* That was today! Ugh, I thought it was tomorrow!” Scrambling through my calendar, I discovered I had accidentally marked it down on…
Discipleship is About Telling a Better Story Why We Keep Needing the Gospel
Rory Sutherland recounts in a TED Talk the story of how potatoes were introduced to 18th Century Prussian peasants in what is modern day Germany. Frederick the Great wanted to bring potatoes to Prussia because at the time the only source of carbohydrates was wheat.…
