‘Eat and Meet’
A meeting with a bring-and-share meal
Every six weeks or so we have an ‘Eat and Meet’ in the café after the Sunday morning eucharist. Everyone is encouraged to stay for it if at all possible. Most people bring some food to share, and there is usually plenty for everyone, so those who have forgotten don’t go hungry.
Sometimes there is something specific, arranged in advance, to be discussed; other times people just raise questions or ideas and we decide as a community which ones we want to look at on that occasion. If we come to a decision, we may set up a small group to carry it forward, or perhaps ask the PCC or local ministry team to take it on.
Here is a report of the first ‘Eat and Meet’ which appeared in the bulletin for 28 May 2000:
‘EAT AND MEET’
report by Gerry Moran
I like eating. I'm not so sure about meeting. I get enough of that at work. However, I do like being at All Hallows and I like the people I meet there so I thought, “Why not?”
One of the things I really like about Sunday mornings is the sense of peace that I come away with. There was nothing peaceful, though, about the “Eat and Meet”! What a babble! People eating, talking, laughing and meeting in a very real way. I spoke to people I'd only been able to say hello to before and began to feel a really nice sense of belonging.
Ray began the meeting proper with the familiar (if you’re a teacher, that is) format of brainstorming ideas and breaking into small groups to discuss. We had the Sunday Lunch group, the Barbecue and Disco group, the House Across the Street group (I was in that one) and the Other People group.
The buzz groups buzzed and the energy and noise was amazing!
These are the things (as far as I can remember) that came out of the meeting:
- An excellent Sunday lunch menu
- A small group arranging a summer barbecue and 1960—2000 disco with entertainment
- A small group forming to put pressure on the council to do something about the house across the street via councillors, the MP and the local community
- A group who will liaise with the already existing communications group to produce a quarterly magazine
Ray used the last ten minutes to talk about the structure of All Hallows and the cycle of meeting and where this one fitted. We then cleared up and went home.
E. M. Forster said, “Only connect”. This was my primary concept of God for a long time. When I came away from All Hallows last Sunday I felt a very real connection. Nice people, nice spirit, nice meeting.