Explores the practice of eating together as Christian worshipThe gospel story is filled with meals. It opens in a garden and ends in a feast. Records of the early church suggest that believers met for
Explores the practice of eating together as Christian worship
The gospel story is filled with meals. It opens in a garden and ends in a feast. Records of the early church suggest that believers met for worship primarily through eating meals. Over time, though, churches have lost focus on the centrality of food— and with it a powerful tool for unifying Christ’s diverse body.
But today a new movement is under way, bringing Christians of every denomination, age, race, and sexual orientation together around dinner tables. Men and women nervous about stepping through church doors are finding God in new ways as they eat together. Kendall Vanderslice shares stories of churches worshiping around the table, introducing readers to the rising contemporary dinner-church movement. We Will Feast provides vision and inspiration to readers longing to experience community in a real, physical way.
Rev. Laura E. Everett
— author of Holy Spokes
“We Will Feast reminds us that to ignore food is to ignore God’s provision for our life and the flourishing of community. I finished this book more committed to and more hopeful for a church where all are fed.” — Rev. Laura E. Everett, author of Holy Spokes
Shannan Martin
— author of The Ministry of Ordinary Places
“Through humble loaves and take-out pizza, our tired ideas about worship take a truer shape. We Will Feast is everything I want in a book—rich prose, decadent storytelling, the taste of possibility. I’m already hungry for more.”
Jeff Chu
—author of Does Jesus Really Love Me?
“In her examination of the dinner-church movement, Kendall Vanderslice treats us to the written equivalent of a pleasant, nourishing meal. She's good, thoughtful company, and she sets a generous, inclusive table. Crucially, she reminds us that food and the table and the feast aren't just evocative metaphors or stirring biblical imagery. We need them—and we need each other—to live.”
Melissa d'Arabian
— author and Food Network star
“A balm to the souls of readers who might be wondering how they can be a part of a kind of church that brings meals out of the afterthought space and straight into the heart of worship.”
Nancy T. Ammerman
— Boston University
“Vanderslice brings together her unique combination of culinary talent, anthropological observation, and passion for Scripture to give us an inspiring picture of what is possible when Christians eat together.”
Sarah Arthur
— Sycamore Creek Church
"This book is like the meals Kendall writes about: simple, communal, generous, and satisfying. But like the best meals—like the Eucharist itself—it leaves you longing to repeat it over and over again.”
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Kendall Vanderslice is a writer and baker who studies the intersection of food and theology. She holds an MLA in Gastronomy from Boston University and a Masters of Theological Studies from Duke Divinity School. She has written for Christianity Today, Christ and Pop Culture, Religion News Service, and Fathom. She lives in Durham, North Carolina, with Strudel, her big-eared beagle named Strudel.
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