One Piece of Furniture

A theological topic for pioneers is what constitutes the 'ecclesial minimum', i.e. what is the minimum you need to be church? The real answer is 'not that much ...', but in practice we add layers and layers that seem to make that minimum end up looking quite bloated!

Recently some friends of ours were talking with us on this topic, and posed the related question: 'What is the one piece of furniture useful in starting a church?'. We concluded together that the one piece of furniture is in fact a table! With a table you can gather people round, relax, eat / drink and discuss. With a table you can break bread together. With a table you face each other which affords a dynamic where you can relate as equals, and each bring their voice or contribution. Many of the scenes of Jesus more privately with friends or guests were in a home presumably at some kind of table.

Of course you could do these things without a physical table - you could gather sitting around a rug on the ground, or even agree to stand together for these things. The point is the simplicity, rather than believing anything more complex is needed. A mere table can be the gathering point and catalyst for relationship building between one another, and between people and God.

When we were searching for a place to enable our incarnational living, our key criteria became 'can we fit in our existing dining table?'. Many other things became unimportant compared to this. When viewing a property the first thing we did was measure up in the living/dining space to check the dimensions could fit our table!

Are you toying with the 'ecclesial minimum'? Do you want to get people together with a view to forming a church? Furniture-wise you can do alot by simply starting out with a table!