The New Dinners for Eight is Sharing Groups
Click here to sign up online.
What: A dinner program for St. Dunstan’s Church this year. It would be much like what we did right before the pandemic, with people signing up and being put into groups of 6 to 8 people and then coming together in one of their homes for dinner.
Why: To build community (getting to know you) and to engage persons in our theme for the year – story sharing. We will give people a prayer of grace to share at the beginning of the meal and a story sharing prompt to start their conversations. Think of this as an ice-breaker where you get to share something about yourself. You only need to take two minutes to share your story with the group. After every one has had their say, the rest of the evening is unscripted.
We will be launching several programs using story sharing in the fall. Story Sharing is one of the tools offered by the Episcopal Church in the Building Beloved Community program. That’s where the Sacred Ground program came from as well. We see dinner groups as a wonderful way to deepen and build community in our congregation.
Who: St Dunstan parishioners – groups of 6 to 8 (3-4 families). A great suggestion is that we organize the dinner groups to have room for a new person or couple and make a part of the group ethos one of invitation. Invite someone to join the dinner who is not a member of St. D’s already.
Where: In parishioners’ homes.
When: Groups to meet monthly and, where possible, rotate homes within group for 4 months. First meeting to happen weeks of Oct 3-10. Typically Friday or Saturday. Could be for any meal time; whatever suits the group.
The week of November 7th, Dinner groups meet for the second time. We will keep the same groups to allow relationships to deepen. For those that register later, they will be added to an existing group, or form a new group.
This pattern continues through the year with monthly dinners (through Easter or Pentecost).