A Bigger Table
Building Messy, Authentic, and Hopeful Spiritual Community
by John Pavlovitz
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
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Pub Date Oct 06 2017 | Archive Date Dec 17 2018
Description
No one likes to eat alone; to approach a table filled with people, only to be told that despite the open chairs there isn't room for you. The rejection stings. It leaves a mark. Yet this is exactly what the church has been saying to far too many people for far too long: “You're not welcome here. Find someplace else to sit.� How can we extend unconditional welcome and acceptance in a world increasingly marked by bigotry, fear, and exclusion?
Pastor John Pavlovitz invites readers to join him on the journey to findâ€"or buildâ€"a church that is big enough for everyone. He speaks clearly into the heart of the issues the Christian community has been earnestly wrestling with: LGBT inclusion, gender equality, racial tensions, and global concerns. A Bigger Table: Building Messy, Authentic, Hopeful Spiritual Community asks if organized Christianity can find a new way of faithfully continuing the work Jesus began two thousand years ago, where everyone gets a seat.
Pavlovitz shares moving personal stories and his careful observations as a pastor to set the table for a new, more loving conversation on these and other important matters of faith. He invites us to build the bigger table Jesus imagined, practicing radical hospitality, total authenticity, messy diversity, and agenda-free community.
Advance Praise
"A Bigger Table offers the very wise reflections of a pastor with a heart like Jesus and a life journey that has led him to reject much of organized American Churchianity. In my role as pastor, I will be working to lead my church toward the four marks of the bigger table that John Pavlovitz recommends: radical hospitality, total authenticity, true diversity, and agenda-free community. I strongly recommend this book!”
—David P. Gushee, author of A Letter to My Anxious Christian Friends
“John Pavlovitz is a modern prophet, a strong, love-demanding and inclusive voice in the post-Trump American wilderness. In A Bigger Table, Pavlovitz delivers a heartfelt, theology-rich call for followers of Jesus to begin thinking about God’s table as a place where all are welcomed. At a time when so many are angry with the church and disillusioned by America’s faith, Pavlovitz’s passionate ‘Table’ offers a hopeful path forward and some much needed nourishment for the weary.”
—Matthew Paul Turner, author of Churched and When God Made You
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9780664262679 |
| PRICE | $18.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 188 |
Featured Reviews
Johanna T, Reviewer
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The main idea of this book is that we should all (especially those of us calling ourselves Christians) be willing and available to talk to those who don't have the same opinions we hold. Super difficult to do, especially in these tense political days, but it is vital that we try to see the humanity in each other.
I really liked that, though this book is about reaching to those on the "other side" of a debate / of the aisle, the author doesn't hide his beliefs. He is completely progressive and will not operate in an environment that debases others -but he's willing to dialogue with others. I think that's what I will remember from this book the most. Don't dilute your values, thoughts, opinions, but don't hold them so tight that you can't reach out and shake hands with someone whose opinions are different.
Amy Suiter C, Reviewer
I got an advanced review copy from NetGalley for this book in exchange for an honest review. A Bigger Table was just the refreshing, honest book I needed to get me through the last few months of 2017. It's been a tough year in so many respects, but especially spiritually for me. In a time where so many spiritual leaders seem to be doubling down on bigotry and happily allowing anyone who disagrees with them to "leave the fold", I appreciate Pavlovitz's call to pastors, Christians, and the "spiritually curious" to come together in vulnerable, loving, and open community. This book is a necessary call to unity in a time of great division. Thank you for giving me the chance to read it early.
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