Anna Woofenden was called to start a church. Raised in the Swedenborgian Faith (which she graciously explains to her readers), Anna felt God was open to everyone. As she grew up, she was confused that women didn’t seem to have a place to lead and that many people seemed to fall by the wayside in traditional churches. Within San Pedro, California Anna and a community of volunteers and misfits, created something beautiful in the Garden Church. The once overflow parking lot with a dinosaur soon became a place where folks grew fresh vegetables, ate together, and welcomed those who had been displaced from their homes and those who had plenty. The new book This is God’s Table tells the story of how an empty lot is now a church home to so many people.
If you like unpretentious writers who truly have faith in something greater than themselves, this book is for you. If you’d like to read about Christians who walk in the faith they preach about, this book is for you. If you’ve often wondered what a church would look like that freely welcomed people of the LGBT world, the displaced, and the refuge, this book is for you. Readers who like the works of Nadia Bolz-Weber and Sara Miles are going to feel right at home with this book.
Fair warning, the descriptions of the meals shared in this church will have you drooling. Anna describes baking scones for coffee time and fresh baked communion bread for her congregation. There’s something so genuine about this book, which can sometimes be hard to find in the world of religious books. Anna doesn’t force Christ down the reader’s throat, but rather invites them to sit down and enjoy a meal family style.
This is God’s Table is a book I flew through in a day, with basic breaks for human needs. It is powerful, smart, and left me wondering how I can do more for the community around me.
This is God’s Table is available April 21, 2020. I’ve bought an extra copy to give to a friend, just in case.
