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When the opportunity presents itself to worship at home around your table, here is an order to consider. Simply place a candle in the center of your table, grab a Bible, and set a place for Christ at your table with a plate of crackers or bread and a pitcher or cup of juice.
Light the Christ Candle [Light a candle, and say, “I/we light this candle to remember that Christ is with us in this very room.”] Prayer [Offer a pray for the meal.] Fill Plate(s) and Begin to Eat Announcements and Celebrations [Share or reflect on any celebrations happening in your life/lives.] Introduction Question [Reflect on the question, “Where did you experience God recently?”] Read and Discuss or Reflect Upon a Scripture [One at a time, reflect on the questions:
Prayer [Share or reflect on the question: “What is your prayer today?” Offer a prayer for the prayers named and the time of worship.] Breaking Bread (Communion) Words of Institution [Read 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.] Sharing of the Bread and Cup [Pass a plate of crackers or bread and pitcher or cup of grape juice, serving others around the table.] Closing prayer [Close with a prayer or song of thanksgiving for the day.] This weekend I was at Christmount, in the North Carolina mountains, for a gathering with ordained and lay Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) church leaders from the southeastern United States. At almost every meal someone asked me about what goes on at Potluck Church. So, maybe it’s time to do another FAQ round-up. Here are quick responses to three questions:
What do people bring to eat? Potluckers bring what they can or want to bring. Some quickly grab fresh fruit or vegetables from the market. Some have their crockpot work all day to create a great soup or stew. Some make old family recipes or their favorite casseroles. Some pick up drive-through pizzas or bags of tacos. Some make big dishes that they would never make for just themselves. Some make treasured comfort foods their moms or dads used to make. Some assemble more than cook. Some deliver more than prepare. We bring what we are inspired to offer. What is your worship like? We light a candle, thank God for our food, eat, talk about where we experienced God recently, discuss what God might have for us in a Bible reading, pray for each other, share communion, do dishes together and go home. Hopefully, this blog post on our order of worship (http://www.potluckchurch.com/potluck-church-blog/a-dinner-church-order-of-worship-or-liturgy) gives you a more complete sense of how our worship unfolds. To the right of this post you’ll also see the how-to and hosting categories of the blog. There you’ll find posts that go into more detail. Or better yet, just come visit us! Is Potluck Church a part of a denomination? Yes, we are excited to be a church in formation in the Kentucky region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). We are a people of the table who believe in the radical inclusion that the Lord offers us all. You can learn more about the Disciples denomination at www.disciples.org. .At the beginning of this new year I asked the potluckers to choose a guiding word for this year and send it to be over Facebook. Over the course of the week, folks started chiming in with their words. They selected words like “peace,” “forbearance,” “abandon,” “focus,” “appreciation,” “hope,” “water,” and “discipline.” Looking over the list, I immediately started to think of scriptures, and poems, and authors who had spoken about these very words. David Foster Wallace’s This is Watercame to mind. So did David Steindl-Rast’s work on appreciation and gratitude. And Jan Richardson’s poem on hope. It was like our worship conversation pieces were assembling themselves. What if we took one word each week and made it the theme of our conversation and all of the elements of our worship (i.e. our prayers, communion meditation, and benediction)? So, that’s what we did.
It’s been amazing to find the connections among these words. For instance, how can we have peace without hope or forbearance? How can we have appreciation or live with abandon without a mindful focus? What role does appreciation and hope play in forbearing others? The pastor in me has enjoyed feeling that our worship might be meeting specific needs around the table, if only those of one potlucker each week. The public confession of our obstacles, and learned wisdom in these areas is helping us to support one another in a deeper, more authentic way. Maybe the people around your table have words that they need to explore with others. Maybe your community is the only invitation that they will have to share these words that they are carrying.  Maybe, like me, you are just now beginning to think about the studies and conversations you hope to have during Lent this year. It certainly will be here before we know it.
I’ve written in the past about our Potluck Church tradition of eating pancakes at the beginning of our Lenten journey (see http://www.potluckchurch.com/potluck-church-blog/ash-wednesday-but-who-do-you-say), and I’m thinking that will be true again this year. But what will our discussions be about this year? We often begin discerning our worship plan by looking back on what we’ve done in years past. Maybe this list will be of help to you, too.
What will you or your church be exploring on your Lenten pilgrimage this year? If you were to visit Potluck Church, you might witness something like this:
Greeting [We welcome folks by name and invite them to get a drink.] Light the Christ Candle [We ask for a volunteer light the Christ Candle, and we say, “We light this candle to remind us that Christ is with us in this very room.”] Prayer [We invite someone to pray for the meal.] Fill Plates and Eat [First-time guests are invited (and sometimes cajoled) to go first.] Announcements and Birthdays [When we have no desserts on hand, sometimes the birthday candle gets lodged in a fried chicken wing.] Introduction Question [We ask, “Where did you experience God since we last gathered?”] Introduce Topic or Theme for Discussion Read and Discuss Scripture and/or other materials Prayer [We ask: “What is your prayer?” Prayer joys and concerns are shared, and then a volunteer offers a prayer for all that has been shared.] Preparation for the Breaking of Bread/Communion Meditation Breaking Bread (Communion) [We explain that we’ll rip off a piece of the bread, dip it in the cup, and then serve your neighbor. ] Words of Institution Sharing of the Bread and Cup [Either a volunteer serves as a deacon serving each person around the table, or we simply pass the plate and cup, serving our neighbor around the table.] Benediction Clean-up “What do you do when there isn’t enough food?” people sometimes ask about Potluck Church. To date we’ve never experienced that challenge.
The challenge we face is discerning how to faithfully address our leftovers. Some will take their dish home to share with others in their family or to have for lunch the next day. Some will swap a few servings with other potluckers who especially enjoyed their dish. And some nights there is great excitement when a potlucker knows of a neighbor or friend who might benefit from a home-cooked meal, and immediately we all start grabbing our polka dot to-go containers and filling them with servings of an entrée, and veggies, a slice of dessert, and some extra carbs—because who doesn’t need extra carbs when life is challenging? It’s a thrill for us to share this meal will others and to send a message letting them know that we are thinking of them. Recently after breaking my arm, I was the recipient of polka dot to-go containers of summer gazpacho, corn salad, chia seed chips, and homemade chicken salad. More than an abundant meal, it was a sweet reminder that I was remembered and loved. God bless the leftovers! Alan Donegan of PopUp Business School recommends asking the following questions before you consider taking out a loan to start a business, and the same questions could serve us well as we consider starting a new ministry:
Maybe you need meeting space, a website, legal services, carpentry, or furniture. Many of these seemingly insurmountable steps in your vision of what you are going to need for your ministry can actually be obtained for free. Because of the generosity of others, Potluck Church has received free legal services, website design, graphic design software, logo design, business cards, hand sanitizer, paper products, bins, start-up grants, candle lighters, grocery gift cards, leadership training, planter coaching, table decorations, fresh table flowers, and more--all for FREE! And, thanks to the generous people of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Madisonville, Kentucky, we’ve borrowed over four years of meeting space, dishes, utensils, glasses, Bibles, Wi-Fi, a TV, a dishwasher, tablecloths, tables, chairs, sink, refrigerator space, restrooms, and utilities. (Thanks again, FCC Madisonville! We are forever grateful.) In the beginning of starting a new church or ministry, it’s so easy to feel like you are all alone in an impossible calling, but the truth is none of us are alone. All around us are gifted people that God is also calling forth to join in the divine work, and when their callings and yours align, God creates an amazing synergy that makes us all greater than the sum of our parts. Lead with a generous sprit willing to share your own talents with others, and start seeking and asking for what you need. So, can you start a new church or ministry for free? YES, by the grace of God and the gifts of God’s people. |
written by RachelSet a table, invite Christ and others, leave an empty chair, serve up some powerful questions, and break bread. Archives
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