What is Potluck Church?

​What if Jesus’s constant dining and feeding and dining and feeding—in Luke alone, there are 5:29, 7:36, 8:55, 9:13, 10:7, 10:39, 11:37, 14:1, 19:7, 22:14, 24:30 and 24:42—were intended as more than a social service program, more than a standalone activity of a fellowship committee, more than a symbolic act to be mimicked in a worship service? What if the meal was Jesus’s way of forming the fundamental worship of the church?

And what if, today, the church didn’t just talk in metaphor about an abundant table open to all but instead gathered around an actual table where folks from any station in life pulled up a chair to experience the Lord’s Supper in the context of a robust meal and worshipped God? What if our worship was not just a spiritual nourishing of mind and soul but also a physical ministry that fed the hungry body, too?

Over and over, I found myself in conversations, hearing the need for a relational, communal and intergenerational worship experience. And I wondered about the possibilities of a faith community whose root worship experience is table fellowship. Might sitting around a table and tasting the real food and sharing our stories and faith questions change what we eat, how we care for our bodies and whom we welcome at our tables? Would it change how we tend the earth that provides us food? Could I come to more know Jesus through this potluck church? And, if we leave a seat for Christ, would He come and dine with us? 

I knew that God was calling us to spread a table and see what Christ did with it. The response has been vocationally affirming. Since October 2013, others have felt this call, as well, and have joined us in this experiment into “Potluck Church.” We’ve gathered weekly for worship, meeting with three to 13 people.

​The vision is to reach folks who have a faith that values wonder (i.e., living the questions) and table fellowship and who, for whatever reason, do not typically worship in a traditional setting on a Sunday morning. Yet, the supper table on a weeknight seems to them a fitting place to meet in worship, break bread and explore their faith in community.