Stories of the Spirit- International Dinner
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
Revelation 3:20 (NIV)
How do you react when someone knocks on your door? Are you excited to see what new Amazon package arrived, or if your Uber Eats is here? Are you nervous, because the dog won’t stop barking and you’re not sure who is outside? Or maybe you’re just happy, ready to welcome in a friend. A knock on the door is an invitation—to open the door and see what (or who) is out there. In the verse above, Jesus is knocking on the door, inviting those inside to welcome Him in and share a meal. Eating together has long been a cultural tradition of fellowship, inspiring the members and leaders of Christ the Servant Lutheran church to think, “What better way to invite your community in than with a dinner?”
Melanie McMichael and Polly Brody spoke with Synod Communications to share about their recent International Dinner. Melanie has been attending Christ the Servant since 1995—she currently serves on the council, volunteers with outreach, and sings in the choir (when she can make it to rehearsal :)).
Polly has been around even longer—she was in the first new members class in 1985. To give you an idea of the welcoming spirit at Christ the Servant, she first attended alone with her infant daughter after waking up early one Sunday. They sat in the back, and she was pleasantly surprised that no one asked if “she had been saved.” She felt comfortable enough to nurse, and someone came up after worship to tell her how great it was to see her caring for her baby and staying for the service. What a welcoming experience for a new mom, and visitor. Polly is now on council for the second time and also teaches their conversational ESL classes.
Christ the Servant is currently sponsoring an Afghan refugee family and wanted to host a dinner as a way to meet the family they sponsored and learn about their culture. However, after an initial postponement, the additional time meant there was room for this dinner to grow and grow into what both Melanie and Polly described as “a magical evening.”
Polly’s work in their ESL classes meant that she already had some great community connections. One of the women in their conversational ESL classes is from Turkey, and Polly learned that she used to be a caterer. They also knew they had members of the congregation from a wide variety of cultures including Norway, Tanzania, Ireland, and South Korea, and took the opportunity to celebrate.
Melanie reached out and did personal invitations to people, asking them if they could bring food, an object to share, play music, or read some poetry. By reaching out personally, and offering plenty of ways to participate, she knew she would get more people to say yes!
Mindful of budget and wanting the food and music to be the star of the show, Melanie and her daughter were able to go to Dollar Tree for colorful tablecloths, brought in a collection of small international flags they happened to have at home, and set up a boombox. People showed up in costumes and cultural attire, brought in food and educational posters to share about their countries, and played instruments.
There were two amazing outcomes from this dinner:
- Experiencing the beauty of our multicultural communities and congregations, with delicious food, great music, and fellowship.
- Bringing people back into the fold as we slowly recover from and move forward in a post-pandemic world.
The Holy Spirit was at work in bringing everything together. As Polly said, the event “could have fallen on its face!” if no one showed up. But they underestimated the power of a good meal to build community. Melanie was feeling called to bring people in, saying “Maybe they haven’t been here in months, but let’s welcome them in and help them find their space.” They even had a few people who have only worshiped on Zoom who came in person after receiving a personal invitation. The initial postponement ended up being such a blessing in disguise. Attendees had plenty of time to plan ahead and the organizing team had time to reach out to even more families to participate.
Their advice for other congregations—call people! Email them. Let them know that you want them there. People want to feel wanted, and cared for. Events like this give you an opportunity to learn more about their lives and their travels, and give a low stakes platform for people to open up about their culture, history, and interests.
Christ the Servant used to do hospitality every Sunday after worship, but this dinner was really the first congregation-wide, in-person event they have held since the pandemic. They had great attendance, and lots of positive feedback which has led to the reinstitution of an Easter Brunch, and the congregation’s overall comfort in testing out some more in-person events throughout the year.
If your church has been feeling the struggle of how to gather in person and online, building a community post-pandemic, let this Stories of the Spirit be a push for you to plan that event, host that dinner, or start up that coffee hour. Online community is still important, but take a risk—just head on over to Dollar Tree and get some tablecloths to get started :).
Inspiration from the Spirit: This story inspired the Faith in Action team to host a Synod International Event on July 15, 2023-save the date! More details to come.