Hospitality can encourage what discussion and debate cannot: reconciliation. As we see across the globe today, theology tends to divide people and too often leads to conflict. Our own nation is still highly segregated on Sunday mornings. But a shared meal can unite people at the level of a basic human need. Over the course of my 23 years of ministry, I've seen the power of a simple international potluck dinner. As James Beard wrote, "Food is our common ground, a universal experience."

Meals also can build relationships across enormous socio-economic divides. My friend Kathleen Kline Chesson is the senior pastor of First Christian Church in Falls Church, Va., a congregation that serves 150 homeless people breakfast and lunch every Tuesday and Thursday. One rainy day, Chesson saw a homeless man — uninvited and dripping wet — shuffle into an elegant reception being held at the church after the funeral of a longtime member. Chesson greeted him, then smiled as three other members of the congregation rushed up to welcome him, making sure that he quickly had a plate of food.

So how are churches evolving today? Many are trying to become the "third place" that Starbucks has staked out in our culture a place for people to go after (1) home and (2) work.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • * Culture-Watch • Dieting/Food/Nutrition • * Theology • Pastoral Theology

1. phil swain wrote: St. Thomas Aquinas would have certainly been surprised to hear that Christianity had become more intellectual after the Reformation. Who needs the Summa when a warm meal will do. Brinton’s religion is just half-baked liberal left-overs. December 14, 1:47 pm | [comment link]

2. John Wilkins wrote: Fortunately, Jesus didn’t die for the sake of having a perfect theology December 14, 3:22 pm | [comment link]

3. JustOneVoice wrote: Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” December 14, 6:17 pm | [comment link]

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