Guest Blogger: Matt Pritchard

While I’m at a retreat through Tuesday, one of the most influential people in my ministry – Matt Pritchard – has generously agreed to share a post he wrote for another blog.  Enjoy this wisdom from Matt.

For many years, I’ve been blessed to be a part of many groups that deeply valued community from the elementary and high schools in my small mountain town to Christian groups in college to intentional Christian communities throughout my 20s to today.

In the autumn of 2007, I joined the staff of Fairlington Presbyterian Church in Alexandria, VA.  One of my key responsibilities was to nurture Holy Grounds, a new worship community of only a few months.

Holy Grounds turned out to be the most unique church community I’ve ever been a part of.

Most churches function as a banquet. We pay people to prepare a weekly spiritual meal for all who have gathered.

While this is certainly easier for those gathered, it has significant drawbacks. The pastor who has been paid to prepare the banquet is often left exhausted and famished by the endeavor. While the meal is often quite tasty and nourishing for some in the congregation, the menu, whether baby food, steak, curry, vegetarian, or gluten-free, fails to sustain all.

Holy Grounds became a community where people not only learn and accept the responsibility to seek out food (note: not talking individualism here, it’s God who makes the provision), but also learn how to and accept the responsibility to feed others. It’s not up to paid staff to feed everyone, rather it is a communal responsibility to find and share spiritual (and actual) food. We teach, bless, and encourage one another (as our gifts allow) in our pursuit of God.

It’s a spiritual potluck. We each bring a dish.

Some bring old favorites. Others bring new recipes that they’re trying out for the first time. Sometimes a person can’t bring a dish because they are too tired or overwhelmed. Sometimes someone brings a few dishes or one giant dish. Each contributes from her or his gifting whether a baker, cuisinier, rôtisseuror, saucier, or dishwasher.

Some people eat a little bit from what every person has brought. Others get a massive helping of a handful of dishes.

There is plenty for everyone to eat and certainly something that will fill the hunger each brings.

We don’t just leave with our hunger satiated, but, as with any good potluck, we share the recipes so that we can make them later for others.

The cool thing is that it’s not incumbent upon any individual to make sure that everyone is fed. It’s a responsibility we share. Unlike most churches, pastoral staff doesn’t arrive too tired to eat from preparing a massive meal for everyone; at Holy Grounds they get to partake in the spiritual feast alongside their coworkers in ministry.

And we each depart with more than we brought.

Holy Grounds (linkto: http://fairlingtonholygrounds.org) grapples with the hard questions of what it means to follow Jesus and love their neighbor as Christ loves them so that they might bring the Kingdom of God in Alexandria, VA and throughout the whole world.

Matt Pritchard now lives in Pittsburgh, PA helping people form communities that seek to bring the Kingdom of God closer.  He works with Kingdom Experiments , InterVarsity, the Simple Way , the House of St Michael the Archangel , and many more .