How We Gather During the Week: Table Groups

You hear us speak almost every week about our Table Groups. I thought I’d take just a few minutes to describe what we are talking about when we say “Table Group”. 🙂

Table Groups meet in homes, over a meal, with space to encounter each other and God in the common practice of gathering together.

Table Groups are meant to be lightweight and low-maintenance; there isn’t a complex structure or rigid schedule. The 5 moves of a typical Table Group are pretty simple:

1. Gather
2. Pray
3. Eat
4. Share
5. Pray Again

GATHER: We all bring food to share with others (enough for who you came with +1-2 more). 

PRAY: We pray a simple evening prayer liturgy, designed and curated based on the time of the liturgical calendar.

EAT: We eat together, enjoying conversation and connection over food.

SHARE: Then we come to our intentional conversation of the evening. Sometimes we listen as others tell 3 stories from their life; often there are updates on mission and opportunities to care and serve among us. There are 4-5 frameworks for the “Share” portion of our time together that we have used in the past that enable us to engage each other with compassionate curiosity. 

PRAY AGAIN: We finish praying the evening prayer liturgy, ending with a blessing.

The goal of a Table Group isn’t to create an “event” or make something happen. We trust this simple, reproducible gathering is “opening space” to encounter the God who is always present and at work, who meets us right where we really are at. 

If you’re interested in joining (or starting!) a Table Group you can contact Fr. Ben or I via email or talk to us on Sunday. 

Grace and Peace,
Fr. Matt