Setting Up Your Table Community
Guide Goal: Orientation
Welcome to your first gathering as a new Table Community! We want to use this guide to help orient you to time together, to begin building familiarity and trust with each other, and to come up with a good plan for your time together.
Practice for the Week: Community Organizing
This week, we’ll hold off on what we’re going to eventually get to, our eight communal practices, so that we can set up a healthy connection and trust for this specific community.
Note for the Table Community:
In these early weeks, we’re establishing the basics and finding a rhythm for our time together. Tonight, focus on making a workable starting plan rather than trying to anticipate every future need.
As you talk through the logistics, consider:
Gathering: Where and how will we meet, share meals, and celebrate Communion?
Communication: How will we stay connected between gatherings?
Friendship and service: How will we make room for fun together and opportunities to serve our neighbors?
Shared ownership: What roles will help our community thrive, and how can everyone contribute in a way that fits their season of life?
You’ll have more opportunities in the weeks ahead to share your hopes, expectations, and past experiences of community. For now, enjoy getting started together and make a plan you can learn and grow from.
Game: Fish Bowl (30 Minutes)
What You Need
Pen and paper, cut or torn into small slips
A bowl
A timer (60 seconds per turn)
1. Prepare the Bowl
Everyone writes 3–5 words or phrases, one per slip. Choose things most people in the group will recognize, such as:
People: Taylor Swift, Spider-Man, Abraham Lincoln
Places: Chicago, Disneyland, the moon
Things: A bicycle, a lightsaber, a coffee maker
Phrases: “Let the cat out of the bag,” “Just keep swimming”
Fold each slip in half and put it in the bowl.
2. Make Teams
Sit in a circle with enough space for someone to stand and act things out. Count around the circle, alternating between Team A and Team B, so teammates are spread out.
(Leaders Note: Have everyone write out their prompts and collect them before explaining the rounds. That way they don’t have to absorb too much information at once).
3. Play Three Rounds
Teams take turns. Each turn lasts 60 seconds. (set a timer on someone’s phone from the opposite team)
One person gives clues to help their teammates guess as many slips as possible. When the team guesses correctly, set that slip aside for one point, then draw another. If a clue is too difficult, return that slip to the bowl and draw another.
When time runs out, play passes to the other team. Continue until every slip has been guessed. Count the points, return all the slips to the bowl, and begin the next round.
(Leaders Note: Choose a different clue-giver for each turn when possible, so everyone gets a chance to participate)
The twist: The same slips are used in all three rounds, but the way you give clues changes!
Round 1: Describe It (Taboo)
Describe the word or phrase using ordinary speech, but don’t say any part of the answer, spell it out, or use rhymes or “sounds like” clues.
Example: For “Spider-Man,” you might say, “A superhero who swings between buildings.”
Round 2: Act It Out (Charades)
Act out the answer using gestures and body movements. No speaking, sound effects, or mouthing words.
Example: For “Spider-Man,” pretend to shoot webs and swing between buildings.
Round 3: One Word Only (Password)
Give your team just one spoken word as a clue. No extra words, gestures, or sound effects.
Example: For “Spider-Man,” you might say, “Webs.”
Since everyone has encountered the slips in the first two rounds, this final round relies on memory.
4. Finish and Celebrate
Add up each team’s points from all three rounds. The team with the highest total wins!
Remember: The goal isn’t just to win. It’s to have fun, learn a little about one another, and begin building the kind of community where we can enjoy being together.
Table Community Logistics (30 Minutes)
Every Table Community is a little different. Some meet in one person’s home, while others rotate between homes. Some share the cooking, while others coordinate a potluck or chip in for one person to prepare the meal.
The goal of this conversation is to establish a simple plan for your first few months together. You don’t need to figure everything out tonight! Choose a starting point, identify the people who will help coordinate things, and leave room to adjust as your community grows.
1. Dinner & Communion (6 minutes)
First, decide how you’ll share meals. Here are a few options:
Meal rotation: Members take turns preparing dinner for the whole group.
Potluck: Everyone brings a dish, or different people contribute ingredients for a shared meal.
Shared cooking costs: Everyone contributes toward groceries for one person (or a team) to prepare dinner.
If you don’t have a strong preference, we recommend starting with a potluck. It’s simple, flexible, and gives everyone a way to contribute.
Choose a Food Coordinator. This person helps organize the meal schedule, coordinate contributions, and communicate what’s needed each week. They don’t have to do all the cooking or hosting themselves!
DISCUSS:
Which meal approach would work best for our group?
Who would be willing to serve as our Food & Hospitality Coordinator?
Are there any allergies, dietary restrictions, or food preferences we should plan around?
Next, plan for Communion. Each week, we’ll share bread and the cup together as part of our Table Community liturgy. We need someone to ensure the elements are ready and help coordinate this moment, whether by facilitating it themselves or inviting someone else to lead.
DISCUSS
Who would be willing to coordinate Communion?
2. Where to Meet (3 minutes)
Choose a place to meet that works well for the group. Consider who enjoys hosting, the needs of families with children, travel, and the practicalities of welcoming everyone.
DISCUSS:
Would anyone like to host regularly?
Would rotating between homes work better?
Are there particular needs we should consider when choosing a location?
If several people want to host, that’s great! You can create a rotation or simply decide where you’ll meet for the next two weeks.
Remember: This is a starting plan, not a permanent commitment. You can revisit it as your community’s needs change.
3. Communication (2 minutes)
Choose a simple way to stay connected and coordinate plans between gatherings. Options include iMessage, WhatsApp, GroupMe, Slack, or another platform that works for everyone.
DISCUSS:
Does anyone have a strong preference?
Which platform will be easiest for everyone to use?
Who would be willing to serve as our Communication Coordinator?
The Communication Coordinator gets the group set up and helps share reminders, clarify plans, and communicate decisions. Keep it simple: the goal is to help everyone stay connected, not create another source of work.
4. Community & Justice Weeks (7 minutes)
The second week of each month is an opportunity to do something different from your usual Table Community gathering.
We believe strong community grows through both joyful friendship and outward-facing service. We want to make space to eat, laugh, play, and enjoy one another, and, as our friendships deepen, to extend that love to our neighbors and the wider city.
We recommend identifying two coordinators. One person could also serve in both roles if that works best.
Community Coordinator
This person helps the group plan occasional activities that build friendship outside your regular gatherings.
DISCUSS
What are some fun activities we could realistically enjoy together?
Should we prioritize free or low-cost options?
What are four or five ideas we could try over the next few months?
Who would be willing to coordinate these plans?
Start small. A park outing, game night, walk, or movie can be just as meaningful as a bigger event.
Justice Coordinator
This person helps the group identify opportunities to serve our neighborhood and Chicago together.
DISCUSS
What needs or opportunities for service are on our hearts?
What could we realistically do together?
When might we plan our first service opportunity?
Who would be willing to coordinate it?
You don’t need a fully developed service plan tonight. Aim to identify one practical next step and a rough timeline.
5. Kids & Families (7 minutes - if applicable)
We want children to experience Table Community as their community, too—to share meals, build friendships, and grow in relationship with the adults and other children around them.
At the same time, the second half of the evening, when adults engage in the Table Guide, can be difficult for children to sit through and challenging for parents to participate in fully.
Different communities may find different solutions. Possibilities include:
Including children in dinner and the opening conversation, then arranging childcare during the Table Guide.
Rotating childcare responsibilities among adults.
Creating an age-appropriate activity or show for older children.
Hiring a babysitter together, if the group wants to and can afford it.
There’s no expectation that every group will find the same solution. The goal is to care well for both children and adults.
DISCUSS
How many children are part of our community, and what are their ages?
What hopes or preferences do we have for including children in our gatherings?
What would work best for the parents and children in our group?
What is one approach we could try for the next month?
When will we revisit the plan and talk about how it’s working?
Give parents space to share their needs and preferences, and remember that it’s okay if we need time to find the right balance.
A note on care: Whatever arrangement you choose, make sure everyone understands who is responsible for supervising the children and that appropriate safeguarding practices are followed.
6. Roles & Shared Ownership (2 minutes)
Quick note about Table Leaders, and a couple other roles: a Food coordinator, a Communication Coordinator, and Social Coordinator, a Service Coordinator are all really recommended. But other bonus roles might be a birthday coordinator, summer trips coordinator, or others you might think of! You’ll have more opportunities to discuss those.
One of the things we’ve noticed is that a role produces ownership within the community. So even if the role is small or needs to be flexible because of the season you’re in, we encourage every person in your table community to have a role they walk away with.
Other potential roles:
Prayer coordinator
Birthday planner
Weekend excursion coordinator
Sit together on Sundays coordinator
Random Meme coordinator
Etc.
DISCUSS
Go around the circle: Is there a role you’d be excited to take on, even in a small way?
Aim for everyone to leave with a meaningful way to contribute, while respecting that some people may need a smaller or more flexible commitment.
Close: Benediction
You’ve made a starting plan for how your community will gather, care for one another, and serve together! You don’t need to have everything figured out. You’ll keep learning as you go.
Close by inviting someone to pray the benediction over your community, found in the Table Community Liturgy.
