I am a church planter, and I had a desire to plant another church. I have a burden for the community and have been involved in many different approaches to community engagement. When we started a Dinner Church, I learned how important it was to simply share about Jesus and then get out of the way.
On a trip with a group of friends, one of them told me about Dinner Church. He gave me a book describing what Dinner Church was, and I read it through by the next day. I shared the idea with a couple of other people and asked them to pray about starting a Dinner Church. As we prayed, we asked the Lord for confirmation that this was the direction He wanted us to go.
Often, people focus on the food and the serving, but what really brings life are the real-life stories of people who need God and need to know He loves them.
A Thanksgiving Outreach Becomes Something More
We had been doing a Thanksgiving meal for some time and served a buffet line in seven senior-living complexes on Thanksgiving Day. We sent teams of about five people to each location.
At one of the locations, we had a low turnout; only twelve people showed up. A couple who attended the dinner asked our team what we were going to do with the extra food.
A team member replied, “Would you like to take some home?”
The woman said, “Well, I know people in the building who could really use it.”
A Surprising Turn of Events
Our team members felt led to give her everything that was left over—enough food to feed about forty people. That evening, the couple took the food to their apartment and opened it up for a meal, inviting their neighbors. Twenty people came and had dinner, and the rest of the food was brought to shut-ins in the building.
This couple’s names were Rich and Eve—they were practicing Jews, and they were interested in helping with our Dinner Church. After explaining to them that Dinner Church was a Christian event but that everyone was welcome, they came, and it touched their hearts.
Eve was incredibly open to the Lord. As we talked, I gave her some discipleship material. After reading it, she came back to me and said, “My Torah does not have some of these references. Could you give me a Bible so that I can read and understand what discipleship is?” She continued her study and investigation of the Christian faith.
Her husband, however, was more skeptical of Christianity, but he enjoyed the meal and the table fellowship. He loved being part of the gathering so much that we often saw him helping with cleanup and taking out the trash. He served in any way he could, putting his heart into helping those who needed support, including both the elderly and families with children.
The Impact of Communion
One day, our team was short-handed, and that evening we decided to take Communion. Because Rich had been helping with everything else, we asked him if he would help pass out the communion elements. For our team member, it was a natural request, but for Rich, it was deeply impactful. He knew how sacred Communion was and felt honored to be asked to help.
The meal ended in its usual fashion, but something had shifted for Rich.
The next time I saw him, he asked me a question: “Do you believe that God talks to people in dreams?” I replied, “Yes, in the Bible, He spoke to many people that way.”
Rich said, “I think God was talking to me in a dream, and I cannot get it out of my mind.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“I saw a man in my dream, and I recognized him as someone familiar, but I couldn’t place him. Then he reached out to me, and I saw scars on both of his hands.”
Then Rich stopped and asked me, “Do you think that could have been Jesus?”
I told him I believed it was.
With tears in his eyes, he asked, “Why would Jesus care about me? I am not a Christian. I am a Jew.”
I reminded him that Jesus was a Jew. He said he had much to think about and walked away.
Not long after, Rich confessed that he had become a follower of Christ. His wife, Eve, confirmed it, saying, “I don’t even recognize my husband anymore—something has happened deep within him.”
Drawn to a Different Kind of Gathering
To be honest, I was not ready for the people that the Lord sent to our Dinner Church. People who would never have risked coming to a Sunday service were drawn to something different.
One night, I was eating with a man I had known for some time. He was single and had attended many of our outreach events, but Dinner Church was different for him. He told me that he had been raised as a Jehovah’s Witness and had never felt welcome anywhere. But somehow, the meal—the experience of sitting at the table with others—had touched him.
As the Communion instructions were given, he bowed his head, confessed his sins, and asked Jesus into his heart.
That night he told me, “I took Communion tonight.”
I said, “Well, that’s good.”
He replied, “No, you don’t understand—I took Communion for the first time in my life!”
Dinner Church was a safe place for him. At the table, he found acceptance and forgiveness.
The Simplicity of Dinner Church
Many people have been caught off guard by the simplicity of Dinner Church. For some reason, they listen differently and experience a sense of belonging. The hope that God loves them warms their hearts to receive that love.
I have been a pastor for 39 years, but Dinner Church reminds me of why God called me into ministry in the first place: to tell the story of Jesus, to get out of the way, and to see what happens next.
