Pick a date to have dinner with the Purringtons. Click here

Hello Monroe FUMC,

A new setting brings a lot of time to reflect. One of those reflections for me involves taking the long view of things as a pastor, asking "How would I want to be the pastor at Monroe with each of you over the long haul?" 

That leads me to this: 

To pastor (and not merely preach) involves relationship.  One of the most critical needs we share in this world is the grace of knowing and being known in love. Jesus models this routinely by breaking bread with his disciples, crowd folk, Pharisees, you name it! For Jesus, the table became one of the primary places of ministry! 

Barry Jones of Dallas Theological Seminary has said, "In the fast-paced, tech-saturated, attention-deficit-disordered culture in which we find ourselves, Christians need to recover the art of a slow meal around a table with people we care about. 'Table fellowship' doesn’t often make the list of the classical spiritual disciplines. But in the midst of a world that increasingly seems to have lost its way with regard to matters of both food and the soul, Christian spirituality has something important to say about the way that sharing tables nourishes us both physically and spiritually… our dinner tables have the potential to be the most “missional” places in all of our lives. Perhaps before we invite people to Jesus or invite them to church, we should invite them to dinner." (Barry Jones, "The Dinner Table as a Place of Connection, Brokenness, and Blessing", October 26th, 2015)

This leads Beth and me to this:

We want to have you over for dinner at our house. All of you. Yep, it will take time. And yes, I am not delirious, well not too much anyway.  Now that you know the 'why', let me share a few hopes we have.

First, that you will just come… When you sign up, please come as guests. Please don't ask to bring anything. It will be our incredible joy to simply break bread with you. The meals will be on Friday nights at 6:30 PM … just come! 

Second, bring your family… If you have kids, bring them. If you have a 6 month old and need a high chair, we will have that ready. (Just tell us what the need is). Don't find a baby sitter, etc., for the gathering, we want to know your whole family!

Third, If you have dietary considerations, let me know so we can prepare exactly what you need. It will be our joy to be careful and specific for you as our guest!  

Fourth, use the table as a means of connecting and inviting others. If you have neighbors you would want us to meet, invite them with you! What a great place to connect first, around the table. The gatherings will not be restricted in any way, we would love to meet those you care deeply about and are loving to Jesus!

Lastly, I like to cook. I mean I really like it. By coming, you will give Beth and me the opportunity to do something for each of you that will bless us as it blesses you. 

We will try to organize the meals around 10 people (12 including Beth and myself) on a first come first filled basis. Yes, it will take time to eat with all of you, maybe 3-5 years as we will do this every 4 weeks or so, but that is our goal.  Appropriately, the dinner gatherings will be called 'Dinner with the Purrington's.  (I know, very catchy name!) Let us use these gatherings as a place for loving everyone in our community (and faith community) deeply as Jesus did!

Below are the dates we will be having the first 4 dinners. 

Click the link here to sign up for a date.

Beth and I literally can't wait to begin breaking bread together in this way, getting to know and love each of you more deeply in the days to come.

All God's blessings,

John and Beth

Dinner with the Purrington Dates

November 12, 2021

December 10, 2021

January  28, 2022

February  25, 2022