“I think really that loneliness pervades every generation, and I think that loneliness is in part because the church has lost its focus on community,” said Vanderslice.

Churches discover community in meals

From The Presbyterian Outlook:

Root & Branch Church calls this service the Welcome Table. It’s part of a growing trend of dinner churches popping up across the country in churches in a number of denominations, conservative and progressive, urban and rural and everything in between.

The dinner church movement sees gathering together for a meal itself as worship, rather than just another church potluck after worship.

Still, there are a number of reasons Kendall Vanderslice believes the dinner church movement is growing now, particularly among millennials craving relationships and meaning. For one, she said, it fills a “profound need for community.”

“I think really that loneliness pervades every generation, and I think that loneliness is in part because the church has lost its focus on community,” she said.

For more information on the dinner church movement, visit www.pres-outlook.org.

Greg Gerber

A native of Wisconsin who moved to Arizona in 2009, Greg Gerber is a DODO -- Dad of Daughters Only -- to three grown daughters. He worked as a journalist for many years before pursuing a career as a faith-based writer, author, coach and speaker. Greg is the author of Pornocide: How Lust is Killing Your Faith, Stealing Your Joy and Destroying Your Life.

Churches discover community in meals

Greg Gerber

Primary blog categories

Special offer