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I’ve been thinking about this literally for months now… but only last Sunday began jotting notes down for this post last night.
I think most of us can acknowledge a need for a paradigm shift in Catholic youth ministry… And, for me, that might just begin with the metaphors we use. For example, it may be time to bury “the table” metaphor…
What’s that? It is the image we hold, consciously or not, that there is a common table that we are to share. We work industriously to gather many divergent voices to the table and/or go forth from the table in many different directions having found the common table serving as a source.
I’m beginning to think that it is an image that no longer serves us well. The table is
often quite dependant on a sense of personality and hospitality of “the one” or “a few.” At the table, there is a presumption of leadership as influence or control. In the end, it develops a set of mores that risk dismissing or ignoring dissent within the culture.
The future of youth ministry can no longer be about the table… It must find itself within the food court… But, but, but, the food court is comprised of a whole bunch of tables… Exactly!
Last week, in Albuquerque, Father Alan Deck discussed cultural competency. He discussed how “either faith transforms culture or culture transforms faith” At the table, I think that the culture of the table has transformed how people perceive themselves while at the table (do I fit in?); who owns the table or even the doorways or access points to the table (who belongs here?); and what are the perceived manners/ appropriate actions around the table (what do we do here?) We develop a faith around the table and in the table itself.
But, Jesus, flipped all the table rules… washing feet, theologically redefining not the selections of the main course but the inconsequential standard everyday staples of bread and wine… The table is ingrained into our theologically sensibility, but we don’t seem to use it in the same manner Jesus did…
The Last Supper, powerful and lasting image that it was, however, was not the only table Jesus sat at. He sat with tax collectors and sinners. While at table, Mary scandalously washed his feet with her hair and perfume scented them. At the wedding feast, His Mother nagged him up from the table into chatting with the wine stewards.
Really, Jesus was a table-hopper.
Deck indicated that “Until culture is transformed, you have not evangelized.” We are not called to gather others to our table, but to go out, if not to all the nations, then, at least, to some of the other tables. We are called to follow the Master and to table hop!
But, it is absolutely impossible to do alone. We need others, and not in the “Hey, I’ll lead and you just follow along” mode. We need true partners and authentic collaborators…
Using a food court metaphor, we are called to recognize that there are numerous almost countless table and an unmanageable amount of access points of entry. Some just pass through, while others visit briefly, and others are regulars. The hours of the food court, the transience of the people, the comings and goings all confound our ability to make it about our table and most especially about us.
If you need a scriptural reference, then lean towards the Loaves and Fishes. Look at all the players/partners involved in the story — Jesus, Phillip, Andrew, and (most especially) the kid smart enough to pack five barley loaves and two fish for a day trip. Attending is not a table of twelve, but a field of 5,000 or more. Jesus not only flips the rules of the table here; he expands our definition of a communal meal— one where the left-overs are greater than what was shared.
We desperately need a multitude of allies and approaches. There is no one method. What works for the table here may not work for the table over there nor the entry point back there.
“We used to think that the unity of the church was brought about by uniformity, said Father Deck. “We know that it is actually found in our diversity.” Can we use the gift of our diversity to transform the food court-like culture around us? If the field of youth ministry is to grow, we must get up from “our” tables and recognize that we are to address the whole damn food court around us.
Still working these thoughts all out… your comments would be appreciated. <image source>
Those are very challenging thoughts! You’re absolutely right…the table image is deeply ingrained. I do know that we need to do something different and I am open to new ideas so I will be giving this serious thought and prayer.
thanks for the invite to new tables!!
Comment by pat mertz — Thursday, February 3, 2011 @ 11:08 am
Table hopping is a good image of the outreach young Catholics (and all Catholics)should be looking for to spread the Faith. However, the one table at the Last Supper was surrounded by diverse men – fishermen, a tax collector, a zealot/leper, a silversmith, even a land owner/farmer/traitor and others who were united by one love and one cause: the love of Christ and zeal to make Him and His life-giving Spirit known to others.
When the abundance at the one table overflows all are stirred and empowered to carry provisions to their sphere of influence – their family, their work, their school, their sport, their hobby. Since it is not bread alone but the Word of God by which men live, the Word needs to be served in heaping portions so as to satisfy and richly nurture our youthful members of the Body of Christ. Then, armed with knowledge and zeal from the table of God’s Word they will joyfully and in the power of the Spirit advance Christ’s Kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy in their sphere (table) of influence and THEY WILL TRANSFORM THE WORLD.
Comment by Rose Marie Doyle — Thursday, February 3, 2011 @ 5:44 pm
This is really the image of Young Adults ministry. Young adults get their faith from a variety of shop owners in the Catholic food court. If parishes want to fight over who owns the tables in a certain area, the young adults will take their business somewhere else. Instead we should be like the shopping malls that create free spaces where people can get their fill from a variety of sources.
Young Adults like the food court because some like McDonalds and some like pizza some Chinese yet they can all sit at the same table instead of being in three separate restaurants or two having to eat something they don’t like.
Churches need to move away from the family dinner table model where young adults are expected to explain why they weren’t at “home” tonight.
Comment by Mark McDonald — Thursday, February 3, 2011 @ 8:35 pm
I am all for diversity, and the food court image is good. But some food is good and healthy, some is junk, it might taste good and please the palate, but it is full of fat and salt that will clog arteries and raise blood pressure and will kill you. I think we still have to ask the question, can the individual vendors around the food court find validation at a truly-accepting, diversity-celebrating table of the Eucharist and table of the Word. If not, then I am not sure I want to be encouraging folks to be eating from those vendors.
Comment by Tom Brinkmann — Thursday, February 3, 2011 @ 10:00 pm
My first reaction is to be deeply troubled and it’ll take a while to think about all the implications. Table hopping, job hopping, bar hopping, bed hopping…how can we find and offer permanence and stability to the youth and young adults? I believe people sought out John the Baptist and Jesus and the Saints precisely because they were not reeds swaying in the wind, but rocks upon which to build a srong foundation.
Comment by Harry Ford — Thursday, February 3, 2011 @ 10:33 pm
Rose, Tom, Harry— Thanks so much for your comments! In the table metaphor, there is usually an “us” and a “them.” We are at the table, and we want to bring them to it.
Table hopping is not so much about them as it is about us.
Rose, let us strive to share the task with many others to bring the Real Presence into the main thoroughfares of others’ lives and not build walls around it and then lock the doors for security.
Harry, if we are going to do that, we must assure that we and our partners are not serving up fast-food slop but the waters of everlasting life and what Tom describes as the validation at a truly-accepting, diversity-celebrating bread and wine of the Eucharist and meat of the Word.
Comment by Scott — Friday, February 4, 2011 @ 6:11 am
It appears to me that the “table image” has become one of an egocentric nature. It has become a “We have all the answers so be a part of us” instead of looking at the field in broader terms. The “table” should be centered with Christ, not us. One of the messages at NCCYM was “less me, more God”. Where does Christ fit in all of this if we are focused on our own knowledge and a sense that we are the “end all, be all” of ministry? We need an attitude adjustment even to be able to “table hop”. To look beyond what we know and experience the presence of Christ in other ways. To “table hop” is not one of instability, but of being open to the Holy Spirit. And being Christ-like” by “going to” instead of “waiting for”. Very good comments…..may our minds and hearts be centered on the will of God.
Comment by Michelle Maher — Friday, February 4, 2011 @ 10:55 am
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Pingback by Tweets that mention Catholic Youth Ministry Blog » Table Hopping in the Food Court -- Topsy.com — Friday, February 4, 2011 @ 11:51 am
The “table” represents Christ.Exchange the word table for “Christ”, “cross”, “altar”, “communion” etc. and we see their is not a need for more than one table. We Are One In The Body of Christ. It’s not an east task because we are not truly following Christ. Drop the egos and prejudice beliefs to look more like Christ and the table is welcoming and approachable.
Jesus infused Himself into the culture through meals, talks, and visits to invite them to the table.
Col 1:18; — he is the head of the body, the Church
1 Cor 12:20-27; — you are Christ’s body, individually parts of it
Eph 5:30; — we are members of His body
Rom 12:4-5; — though many, we are one body in Christ
1 Cor 6:15; — don’t you know your bodies are members of Christ
Jn 10:16; — there shall be one fold and one shepherd
Eph 4:3-6; — one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father
Rom 16:17; — avoid those who create dissensions
1 Cor 1:10; — I urge that there be no divisions among you
Phil 2:2; — be of same mind, united in heart, thinking one thing
Rom 15:5; — God grant you to think in harmony with one another
Jn 17:17-23; — I pray that they may be one, as we are one
Jn 17: 23; — that they may be brought to perfection as one
1 Cor 12:13; — in one spirit we were baptized into one body
Rom 12:5; — we, though many, are one body in Christ
Eph 4:4; — one body, one Spirit, called to one hope
Col 3:15; — the peace into which you were called in one body
May Jesus show us Divine Mercy and give us strength.
Comment by Nancy Boyd — Friday, February 4, 2011 @ 11:55 am
[...] are just a few. What are some ways you address resistance in youth ministry, catechesis or [...]
Pingback by Four Types of Resistance — Friday, February 4, 2011 @ 12:03 pm
This reminds me of what Mark Oestreicher wrote in Youth Ministry 3.0. We can no longer look to homogenize the youth group into one big family because there are too many interests and voices. In order to be heard, we have to break it into much smaller, more affinity based groups. Is that what you’re saying here?
I’ve been toying with going to the almost exclusively small group model where the large group meets less often. In this model, the youth group becomes the small group. I think when you can get them small and intimately connected with each other, that’s where you’re really going to get the kids to open up and see some change in their lives.
Comment by Marc Cardaronella — Friday, February 4, 2011 @ 12:42 pm
The struggle I have with multiple table metaphors- as especially the connection made between that and Oestreicher’s “affinity” only groups- is that they seem to be allowing for diversity, but in fact contribute to polarization. Our young people learn that they can choose any group they want and maintain that group- or table, ignoring others. In life, you have to deal w/ multiple tables and multiple groups, and the solution is not to isolate yourself from them by choosing only what you like, what your affinity is. This perpetuates Moralistic Theraputic Deism, where young people only want to feel good, and not challenged. I’m all about broadening the table, but I can’t imagine the conversations Jesus had w/ the diverse disciples were always easy. The point is that by caring about them individually he got them all to the same table, and eventually to the same cause.
That being said I don’t do “youth group” either and think all my large group gatherings should be prayer centered. Maybe with a table!
Comment by Craig Gould — Tuesday, February 8, 2011 @ 12:52 am
[...] weeks ago, we were discussing Table Hopping in the Food Court. The suggestion was that “it may be time to bury “the table” metaphor… the image we hold, [...]
Pingback by Catholic Youth Ministry Blog » Sustainable Mobs — Thursday, February 17, 2011 @ 2:01 am
[...] >> We are to STEP BEYOND the comfort, security, ease of our own table and reach out to the broader food court. (that would be as in Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.) >> We are to [...]
Pingback by Catholic Youth Ministry Blog » Scrutinizing the Signs — Monday, March 7, 2011 @ 6:14 am