CRAFTING THE TABLE & BECOMING PARTICIPANTS

An imaginative story about the world in three tables: creation, Jesus' last supper, and the world today. Drawing on theology, philosophical sociology, and ecology, this talk presents the idea that the table can inclusively guide all of humanity into becoming full-hearted participants in the world, responsible and respectful to the environment and each other.

The summary talk below is 9 minutes long and has been adapted for churches and retreats.

The Participation Dinner: An Experience for Teams

We've all heard it said, "Don't talk about work at the table!" 

The table, we've been told, is a place to enjoy each other's company, a place where we share and participate in the Earth's bounty, share stories, and generally invest in the betterment of each other's lives. 

But... wait... shouldn't work also be a place where we enjoy each other's company? A place where we share and participate in the Earth's bounty, share stories, and generally, invest in the betterment of each other's lives? We think it should be. 

Jordan and Melissa Dowell have together been leading teams for over a dozen years. They have lead teams in the social non-profit and for-profit sectors.  They've led creatives of all types; folks involved in the making, and marketing, and dreaming and doing of all sorts of projects. They've also been on many teams themselves.

The consistent factor of good teams? Environments of healthy participation characterized by individuals who know each other's stories, and understand how their lives, their purpose and their "why" participates with other team members.

The Participation Dinner is a workshop that centers around a potluck style meal that Jordan and Melissa make with your team. Food is a powerful embodied metaphor for how we are all connected participants. Similarly, cooking is an up close experience to how working, making, and creating connects us all. During the experience, Jordan and Melissa present three primary movements:

  • 1.) The Setting: The World was intended as a table; more for community than for consumption, for sustenance and for sustainability. 
  • 2.) The Conversation: Participants are led into conversation around the storied and networked nature of food, cooking, and food at large. We discuss the posture of being at table in a physical and metaphorical sense.
  • 3.) The Invitation: To return to the world, to work, to family, to life in general and to engage the world as a table.

Interested in hosting a Participation Dinner for your team? 

Get in touch with Jordan and Melissa here.