Young adults build community with dinner church

News | January 17, 2018

Around tables and over a meal, young adults at St. Paul will worship together Thursday evening.

The four important elements of worship will be present – gathering, word, meal, sending. But it will take on a different feel than traditional worship. A loaf of bread will be broken and passed from person to person as a dinner of soup and salad begins. Grape juice will be shared as the meal and an intentional discussion are completed.

The songs will be simple and easy to learn. Worshipers will pray for each other.

“This is one of the most ancient forms of worship,” said Pastor Kelsey Fitting-Snyder.

Pastor Kelsey first encountered dinner church in Baltimore, and during seminary. The dinner at St. Paul is also modeled after St. Lydia’s, a dinner church congregation in Brooklyn, New York.

For this first meal, an anticipated 15-20 people will gather in Fellowship Hall. The food will be provided, but part of the worship will be helping with cleanup.

“Our hope is that this will be a different way to connect with each other in Christian community,” Pastor Kelsey said.

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