episode 1

​5:30 comes late on another Sunday afternoon in January.  It's dark and its damp as we trudge up the sidewalk along the front of another congregation's building.  Ann is already there.  One of the loveliest people I have ever had the pleasure of being in community with, she has gotten there just before us with a good share of tonights dinner.  We are carrying a wine bag and the keys to the building that our host congregation has entrusted to us.  The alarm box is mounted above the left hand corner of the double doors.  A quick 90 degree movement of the lock and the building is disarmed.  Once inside the foyer, a routine of light switches and unlocking doors ensues.  In just a moment the main room is lit as more of our community arrives to begin the preparation for the evening.  
Tables must be carried, shuffled or dragged  from the open closet in the foyer. Some get lined up along the wall of the sanctuary for the food that is here and still yet to arrive. The familiar long white eight foot tables are set up more in the center of the room, side by side, to accommodate our ever growing group.  On this particular evening it looks as if we will need to expand what had been our usual set up by another table. That is an encouraging thought to those of us who have been around awhile. It's not that numbers are all that important, but increasing numbers helps a bit with the anxiety that there is something wrong with us or that this sort of "church" is not a "real church".  We are not a "small group" even though we may be a bit small.  We are not a "home group" even though on a number of occasions we have met in homes.  We are not a "bible study" even though a study of scripture is a central piece of every gathering.  We are proudly and undeniably a church that, even though we now meet in a church building, happens to gather around a table.  A good many congregations in the past few decades have begun to recognize the value of smaller groups and added them to their programming.  A number of them in recent years have even begun to emphasize tables and meals and added them to their offerings.  We have just chosen to go straight to the point and create our worship opportunity as the meal gathered around the table in a setting that is, by design, smaller.  When we get crowded, we don't need a bigger building ... just a bigger table and a few more chairs.