Eight Around the Table

The table. For most of us, it is our childhood image of the center of our family life. It was a gathering place for our families and friends and it was there we were fed from our earliest days. And it wasn’t just food we were fed; it was laughter, stories of our days and our histories, and a sense of connection with whomever was gathering around the table. I remember going to my grandmother’s house, on the prairies of Saskatchewan, where, as the day pressed on, more and more cousins, aunts and uncles, and friends would arrive and we would expand that metal rimmed, white gloss laminate tabletop with extra leaves, careful not to pinch our fingers in the cracks. We pulled up more chairs to the table and always scooted over to make room for others. To this day, I love it when I get to put both leaves in my dining room table and add mismatched chairs around its perimeter! 

As the church regathers this summer, we want the table to be prominent in our neighborhoods. We are hoping to have many table-gatherings, called Eight Around the Table, where someone is willing to host the same handful of people around their table 3 times. (But if you can only host one or two times, that works too!) The number of people who gather around the table is less important than the connection and conversation - the being seen and known - by others in our neighborhoods. 

If you are interested in offering your table for the sake of gathering others, would you let me (Tara) know? You can find my contact information below. The gathering doesn’t need to be fancy; it could be on our patios, on picnic blankets, on chairs circled round a fire pit. And it doesn’t even need to be dinner. It could be dessert, wine and cheese, s’mores, and more. The important thing is the gathering itself...and the reconnecting with one another.

What: Eight Around the Table (gathering a group of people around our tables).

When: All summer long, preferably 3 times with the same people (pick times that work for you).

Why: To reconnect, regather, be seen and known in our Wellspring Neighborhoods.

Who: Everyone is welcome to participate and attend.

Where: At different locations in each neighborhood (Maybe around your table??)

How: If you are willing to host, you can email me at tara@wellspringenglewood.com so I can get it on registrations and let others in your neighborhood know!