Jesus used food and mealtimes to build community and to teach about the Father, Son and Kingdom. (Some of the numerous examples include the wedding at Cana, the call to Levi and to Zaccheus, the banquet parables, eating with Pharisees and also with persons of ill repute, the miraculous feedings with fish and bread.) Table Fellowship will deal with the concepts of miracle meals, eucharist, hospitality, etiquette, clean and unclean, and others. This volume will help participants to experience and appreciate the eucharistic quality of daily life through meals with family, church and other communities and to invite people to God’s table. This study is part of the Jesus Collection and has 8 sessions.
John O. Gooch, a retired United Methodist pastor, has served churches ranging in size from 15 to 1100. He is a freelance writer and a former editor of curriculum resources at the United Methodist Publishing House. He earned a B.A. in history, the M. Div. and a Ph.D. in Historical Theology from St. Louis University. and has taught classes at St. Louis University, Eden Theological Seminary, St. Paul School of Theology, and Perkins School of Youth Ministry. He wrote Being a Christian in the Wesleyan Tradition, John Wesley for the 21st Century, and Claiming the Name: A Theological and Practical Overview of Confirmation and he is a frequent writer of articles and curriculum resources. He and his wife Beth live in Lee's Summit, Missouri.