Dinner Church Podcast

Dinner Church is a simple, relaxed approach to starting new faith communities. But like many new faith communities, it may draw young families and an overwhelming number of kids. 

What does it mean to embrace the children in our midst? And how can Dinner Church be a discipling experience for all ages?

In this episode, Heather Evans is joined by Amy McGlynn, a part of her own Dinner Church team member who focuses on kids. You'll hear about their challenges and what they've seen God do in and through their church's kids. Amy even gets into nitty-gritty details like making a budget!

You can get to know the Dinner Church Collective at dinnerchurch.com and join us live in person for the inaugural Dinner Church Summit, November 9th-11th in Orlando, Fl. Details at dinnerchurch.com/summit.

If you've benefited from the Dinner Church Podcast, please take a moment to share about it with your friends and give us a review on iTunes.

What does it mean for our marginalized neighbors to encounter Jesus? What about kids? In this episode, you’ll hear from Isaac Olivarez, founding pastor of Urban Outreach, a Dinner Church in Denver, Colorado. You’ll learn what it’s like to be a Dinner Church in the city, who he encountered there and what he learned along the way.

Isaac and his wife, Jaime, founded Urban Outreach Denver in 2012 and planted a Thursday night dinner church called Community Dinners, a church for Denver’s homeless and marginalized in 2013. UO Denver is located in Five Points, an inner city Denver neighborhood historically known for crime, drugs and poverty, but that is currently experiencing a resurgence of economic growth. Isaac and Jaime also launched a Monday night “Community Dinner” for kids called Little Rascals, and host a summer kids camp, short-term missions teams, back-to-school outreaches, as well as Thanksgiving and Christmas outreaches. 

Get to know the Dinner Church Collective at dinnerchurch.com and join us live in person for the inaugural Dinner Church Summit, November 9th-11th in Orlando, Fl. Details at dinnerchurch.com/summit.

If you've benefited from the Dinner Church Podcast, please take a moment to share about it with your friends and give us a review on iTunes.

You can start a Dinner Church in almost any context. In this episode, you'll hear from Megan Monterrosa who has started two Dinner Churches in suburban neighborhoods in Washington State. Megan brings not only a passion for life transformation, but a love for tasty food to her ministry. 

Listen in to hear how Megan reimagined the Dinner Church model for her context and the similarities you find anywhere that people gather around Jesus' table.

Get to know the Dinner Church Collective at dinnerchurch.com and join us live in person for the inaugural Dinner Church Summit, November 9th-11th in Orlando, Fl. Details at dinnerchurch.com/summit.

Megan Monterrosa serves on staff at the Grove Church in Marysville, Washington where she leads a Dinner Church called The Neighborhood, and is an executive assistant to the lead pastor. She is passionate about reaching the lost, seeing Jesus move in the lives of individuals, and helping them discover their God-given purpose in missional living. She is pursuing a Master of Divinity degree from Kairos University and is in the process of becoming a licensed minister with the Assemblies of God.

If you've benefited from the Dinner Church Podcast, please take a moment to share about it with your friends and give us a review on iTunes.

When does a meal become a Dinner Church? Join theologian, professor, and pastor David Fitch as he describes the actions and postures Jesus-followers can take to create table settings where people can experience the Holy Spirit at work. He also helps Christians consider how to invite others who don’t believe to join them in these spaces.

David E. Fitch, PhD (Northwestern University), holds the B. R. Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology at Northern Seminary. He founded Life on the Vine Christian Community in Chigago, and is author of books like "Faithful Presence," coauthor of coauthorship on "Prodigal Christianity”, and a speaker on church mission, leadership, and theology. Fitch's writings span Christianity Today to academic journals.

Get to know the Dinner Church Collective at dinnerchurch.com and join us live in person for the inaugural Dinner Church Summit, November 9th-11th in Orlando, Fl. Details at dinnerchurch.com/summit.

How do you explain Dinner Church? More importantly, how do you explain it to key volunteers who have invested time and energy into the kinds of services and programs a Dinner Church may not ever develop?

Heather Evans, co-host of the Dinner Church podcast, has started numerous dinner churches in a variety of communities in South Florida. In this conversation, you’ll learn about her approach to forming teams and helping them explore what Dinner Church should look like in their context.

If you are a church leader who want to explore Dinner Church with your congregation this episode is the perfect place to start.

Get to know the Dinner Church Collective at dinnerchurch.com and join us live in person for the inaugural Dinner Church Summit, November 9th-11th in Orlando, Fl. Details at dinnerchurch.com/summit.

Why did the early church focus more on food than sermons? And how should that affect how we do church today?

Join us for a fascinating conversation with scholar and author Dr. Mike Graves. Delve into the early church's expression of the agape feast and how it informs and prophetically influences today's dinner church. This episode is perfect for church planters, church history nerds and everything in between.

Dr. Mike Graves is author of Table Talk: Rethinking Communion and Community. He serves as scholar in Residence at Country Club Christian Church in Kansas City, Missouri.

Get to know the Dinner Church Collective at dinnerchurch.com and join us live in person for the inaugural Dinner Church Summit, November 9th-11th in Orlando, Fl. Details at dinnerchurch.com/summit.

How did a struggling 100-year old church grow into a network of over a dozen Dinner Churches, and go on to inspire the 300 new dinner church plants? 

In this first episode of the Dinner Church Podcast, you will hear about that journey firsthand from Verlon and Melodee Fosner. This episode is packed with wisdom, stories, and practical advice, perfect for anyone learning about Dinner Church for the first time or trying to start one.

Verlon and Melodee Fosner have been in church leadership for 35 years. They are founders of Community Dinners, a network of Dinner Churches in Seattle and Dinner Church Collective, a movement of Dinner Church practitioners across North America. Verlon is the author of books like Welcome to Dinner, Church and A Trowel and a Sword. When not traveling to train dinner church leaders, Verlon and Melodee can be found with their grandkids in Seattle and Nashville.

Get to know the Dinner Church Collective at dinnerchurch.com and join us live in person for the inaugural Dinner Church Summit, November 9th-11th in Orlando, Fl. Details at dinnerchurch.com/summit.

Dinner Churches are starting all over North America. Why? It's not just that they are an effective, affordable, and contextual approach to church planting. They also follow in the footsteps of Jesus and the early church, who made disciples and cultivated community around the table.

In this podcast, you'll be led by J.D. and Heather, two longtime pastors now leading Dinner Churches. You will hear from theologians, historians, and other Dinner Church practitioners.

Any ordinary church can start a Dinner Church. The Dinner Church Podcast will teach you how.

Learn more about the Dinner Church Collective and our first-ever Summit at dinnerchurch.com/summit.