Come for Dinner!
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him… Luke 24:30-31
As I write this week’s blog, we are less than one month away from Holy Week. We’ll gather on Sunday, April 13 to bless palms and remember Jesus’ final week in Jerusalem, and we’ll end the week observing Maundy Thursday and Good Friday before we get to the joyful celebration of Easter on Sunday, April 20.
Although I love the solemn pageantry of traditional Maundy Thursday worship in our sanctuary, this year I invite you to something completely different: Dinner Church in our chapel.
We will gather at 6 pm on Thursday, April 17 for Maundy Thursday worship centered in table fellowship. We’ll pass the bread and cup around our dinner table, communing each other. We’ll enjoy a simple meal. We’ll read words of holy Scripture and consider, together, what those words mean for our lives now. We’ll pray for the well-being of the world God so loves. And we’ll send each other back out into the world with the blessing of peace.
Especially in the gospel of Luke, Jesus spends a lot of time meeting and talking with people over shared meals. On Easter evening, Luke reports that disheartened disciples unknowingly encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Still not realizing who he was, they invited him to dinner. In the breaking of bread, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. The rest of the New Testament—from the Acts of the Apostles through Paul’s various letters—includes other stories of the early church gathering around tables, in each other’s homes, figuring out how to be church together, while supporting each other and praising God.
Remembering those stories, Dinner Church is an old-but-new way of coming together as Christian community. It’s more than dinner AT church: it’s worship AS dinner with friends, expecting to encounter Jesus as we break bread together.
If this sounds good to you, please sign up so we know how many to plan for. The sign-up sheet will be in the Gathering Area on Sunday mornings. You can also drop me a note.
Dinner Church is NOT a church potluck, but it won’t work without the dinner. Can you bring a crock pot of soup? Can you contribute to a veggie tray? See the sign-up sheet for more info.
Were you with me until I asked, “Can you bring….”? Don’t let that be an obstacle. There will be plenty of food. With Jesus, there always is. Just bring yourself. You are enough.
Lenten Blessings as we continue our journey to new life.
Pastor Sue
