The Welcome Table

You are invited to our first Welcome Table gathering.

This Sunday evening, November 19, from 5:00-7:00, we’ll gather at 1486 Falls Road to share a meal and time of worship.

The earliest Christians framed worship, Communion, and their community life together around the table. Their gatherings happened in homes, where sharing food, building community, and growing in faith happened simultaneously. Acts 2 tells us that "the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the community, to shared meals, and to their prayers."

Jesus used the image of the Great Banquet to teach his followers about God’s unfolding kingdom. The bountiful table, with room for whoever may come, paints a picture of God’s lavish grace, God’s boundless love for us. The welcome table is the heavenly banquet where God’s people will gather in eternity and at the same time it is each and every simple table around which God’s people gather on earth to fellowship, worship, and serve.

African-American slaves sang with expectation: “I’m gonna sit at the welcome table… I’m gonna sit at the welcome table, one of these days.” Jesus taught us to pray that kingdom would "come on earth as it is in heaven.”

When we gather around the table, with all our imperfections and with all our our brokenness, with all our wishful thinking and bone-weary longing, we anticipate the kingdom of God that is already beginning to break into our world. We catch glimpses of the great redemption project that God is already working out for us and for all of creation.

If you are a seeker, a doubter, a do-gooder, or a backslider, you are welcome at Jesus’ table. If you are an outcast, a misfit, or a loner, you are welcome at Jesus’ table. If you are struggling or stable, anxious or ecstatic. If you are stuck in a rut or living on the edge, you are welcome at Jesus’ table. No matter where you are from, what you are going through, or how you feel about yourself, you are welcome at Jesus’ table.

And you are invited to our table - to The Welcome Table - this Sunday. We’ll begin the meal and worship time around 5:30pm, but you are more than welcome to come earlier or stay later. We hope this will just be the first of these Welcome Table gatherings that we’ll host here periodically.

When we said we hoped that this place would become a place of rest, renewal, and hospitality for our friends and neighbors, we really meant it. It’s an open invitation! We can’t wait to see you, break bread with you, and worship God with you!

If you know you are planning to come, let us know so we can have a baseline idea for food prep. But please don’t hesitate to come, even if you aren't able to call/text ahead!

David (803) 984-6964

Sarah (803) 984-4313