At The Table – 7 Church Services That Make First Time Guests Return

The moment people walked into the church, their faces showed a mix of surprise and confusion—almost as if they were thinking, Am I in the right place? In the early days, we experimented constantly, trying different ways to do church each week. Our goal was simple: to create experiences that people had to be there for—something they couldn’t just watch online.

Carey Nieuhoff recently pointed out that people no longer attend church just for the pastor’s sermon; they can easily access preaching online. What truly draws them in is community. If that’s the case, then our focus should be on fostering deeper connections within our services.

Think about how Jesus moved from town to town, often gathering with people in their homes. He would sit at a table, share a meal, and engage in meaningful conversations. Inspired by this, we introduced something called “At The Table.” In our church, we encourage everyone to bring food from home to share. We then sit around a table, enjoy a meal together, and discuss thought-provoking questions. It’s a simple yet powerful way to bring people together and strengthen the sense of community in our church.

Number 5 – At The Table 

Sharing a meal together with discussion questions 

 How we do it: 

• We place long or round tables in the auditorium 

• We ask people to bring food from home to share with others 

• We have a short time of preaching followed by questions for people to answer with the others next to them. 

• We might have one song on the day, but not a full worship set 

 Benefit / What it does for people: 

• Creates had to be there experiences 

• It allows people with a cooking gift to volunteer in the church 

• It elevates community by having conversations with people you may not normally speak to 

 What was challenging: 

• Logistics – Organizing everything is much harder than a weekly service 

• Singing right after eating is not ideal