What do you think?
Rate this book
Staying at the Table: Being the Church We Say We Are
Not yet published
Expected 6 Jan 26128 pages, Paperback
Expected publication January 6, 2026
4 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 5, 2025
Heads of Communion, such as the Pope, issue from time to time encyclicals or something akin to them. These are documents, which often get published in book form, that speak to the churches they lead. These often appear during moments of transition or when major changes are occurring. They may be issued to call the church together on a particular topic, such as the environment or the political concerns of the moment. In "Staying at the Table," Terri Hord Owens, the General Minister and President (GMP) of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) speaks to the church she leads, but much of what she shares with the Disciples has application beyond the Disciples.
Rev. Owens is in her second term as GMP, as she began her second term in 2023, the denomination began instituting major structural changes to the way the denomination governs itself. While this is important, more important is a question of identity. Thus, the subtitle Staying at the Table is "Being the Church We Say We Are." As to what this refers to, she speaks of the Disciples' identity statement: "We Are Disciples of Christ, a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world. As part of the one Body of Christ, we welcome all t the Lord's table as God has welcomed us." This identity statement was developed during Owens's predecessor's term as GMP. Based on conversations with she became GMP, she decided the church didn't need new words. Rather, it needed to embrace these words and live more fully into them. This identity statement is essentially a reframing of the Disciples' historic commitment to Christian unity and its practice of gathering at the Lord's Table. The way this is phrased reminds us that this is an open table.
As she introduces the book, Owens speaks to the vision she wishes to share in this "encyclical," which serves as a call to the church to stay at the table during uncertain times. The Disciples, like many denominations, have experienced a decline in membership and the number of churches. Part of the struggle comes from our inability, largely due to political differences, to stay at the table. So her message is rooted in her belief "that God is a God of limitless love," which in turn calls for us to "fully embrace the humanity in each one." With this love as a foundation, then "the covenant that Jesus established at the table of the Lord must be reflected in the community we build together." (p. xi).
The book includes seven chapters, with the first chapter titled "Everything Begins with God." Her foundation for this document is her belief in God's limitless love. She rightfully declares that what we believe about God not only determines how we understand who Jesus is as well as his teachings, but also how we engage with others. Our calling then is to align ourselves with how God sees us. In her view, since God is a God of limitless love, then our engagement with others should be inclusive, not exclusive. With this established, we move on in chapter 2 by exploring further this limitless love. The chapter is titled "Let's Start with Limitless Love." This chapter explores how the Bible defines God's love, as well as the call to love our neighbors. As is true for Disciples, relationships stand above doctrine, such that we are to embrace one another, even when we disagree. Disciples, like other denominations, have struggled to stay together as we deal with questions relating to the inclusion of LGBTQ persons and what it means to be an anti-racist church (this at a time when there is significant backlash in the larger culture toward diversity and inclusion, as well as equity).
With the first two chapters focusing on God's limitless love and what that means for the church, in the third chapter, she invites us to "Imagine with Me." In this chapter, she invites us to imagine with her what the church could be, including imagining the kinds of changes that might be required of us. In this chapter, Owens draws on Walter Brueggemann's book The Prophetic Imagination. Central to what she wants to see take place, her vision for the church, is to see the church embrace her priorities of biblical literacy and spiritual growth. She laments the widespread biblical illiteracy in the church and calls on the church to change that reality, even as it embraces spiritual practices that bring renewal to the church. Having invited us to engage in prophetic imagination, she moves on in the fourth chapter to her call for the Disciples to "be the Church We Say We Are." In this chapter, she again calls for the churches to embrace spiritual and contemplative practices, so that spiritual growth can occur. She also warns here agains the dangers of religious institutionalism. I'm sure it occurs to her that she leads a religious institution, which has all the accouterments of an institution. Being that I have been a participant in the institutional church from congregation to middle judicatory to the larger denominational realities (I chaired the board of one of the denomination's ministries and on our General Board). So, I know what this entails. Making changes is not easy because everyone, including the General Minister and President, has a vested interest in the institution. While recognizing this truth, she also calls on the church not to get caught up in preserving the institution at the cost of following Jesus.
These chapters that describe identity and purpose lead to the fifth chapter titled "Staying at the Table." In this chapter, Owens focuses on the role the Table plays in Disciples life and what it means to stay at the Table. Central to this message is the open welcome, so that everyone is welcome, no matter who they are. Again, this invitation is shared at a time when division and polarization are present. She raises the point that the church has a responsibility to speak to matters of social justice, but how can we stay at the table despite disagreements? The sixth chapter takes us the next step to "Changing the Narrative." This is more than transformation. It involves telling our stories and then discerning what they are saying about who we are as church. The challenge here is to engage in something very difficult, and that is truth-telling. She writes that "staying at the table requires honesty, candor, truth telling, but above all a commitment to engage with one another in the love that God has given to us" (p. 94). She concludes with a chapter titled "I Want a Church." Here she offers her vision for the church. It is a vision that seeks to emulate Jesus.
This is a book written by the head of a particular denomination. It draws on Disciples history, theologies, practices, and sense of purpose. That being said, it can speak to other communities as long as the readers understand that it has a specific community in mind. It's a bit like reading a papal encyclical knowing that it speaks to Catholics, but might have something valuable to say to those outside that tradition. As I read, I did notice a few editing issues here and there that should have been caught before publication. Perhaps the most obvious is the title of "chapter" offered by William Barber. On the cover,it rightly suggests that Barber wrote the foreword, while inside it has him offering a preface. It should be the foreword. Having mentioned William Barber, who is a Disciple, but also a leading Civil Rights figure, provides the book with the image of the encyclical. As he points out, an encyclical is a "pastoral letter written to a particular communion with the intention of being overheard." Such is the case here with Terri Hord Owens' "Staying at the Table."
Rev. Owens is in her second term as GMP, as she began her second term in 2023, the denomination began instituting major structural changes to the way the denomination governs itself. While this is important, more important is a question of identity. Thus, the subtitle Staying at the Table is "Being the Church We Say We Are." As to what this refers to, she speaks of the Disciples' identity statement: "We Are Disciples of Christ, a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world. As part of the one Body of Christ, we welcome all t the Lord's table as God has welcomed us." This identity statement was developed during Owens's predecessor's term as GMP. Based on conversations with she became GMP, she decided the church didn't need new words. Rather, it needed to embrace these words and live more fully into them. This identity statement is essentially a reframing of the Disciples' historic commitment to Christian unity and its practice of gathering at the Lord's Table. The way this is phrased reminds us that this is an open table.
As she introduces the book, Owens speaks to the vision she wishes to share in this "encyclical," which serves as a call to the church to stay at the table during uncertain times. The Disciples, like many denominations, have experienced a decline in membership and the number of churches. Part of the struggle comes from our inability, largely due to political differences, to stay at the table. So her message is rooted in her belief "that God is a God of limitless love," which in turn calls for us to "fully embrace the humanity in each one." With this love as a foundation, then "the covenant that Jesus established at the table of the Lord must be reflected in the community we build together." (p. xi).
The book includes seven chapters, with the first chapter titled "Everything Begins with God." Her foundation for this document is her belief in God's limitless love. She rightfully declares that what we believe about God not only determines how we understand who Jesus is as well as his teachings, but also how we engage with others. Our calling then is to align ourselves with how God sees us. In her view, since God is a God of limitless love, then our engagement with others should be inclusive, not exclusive. With this established, we move on in chapter 2 by exploring further this limitless love. The chapter is titled "Let's Start with Limitless Love." This chapter explores how the Bible defines God's love, as well as the call to love our neighbors. As is true for Disciples, relationships stand above doctrine, such that we are to embrace one another, even when we disagree. Disciples, like other denominations, have struggled to stay together as we deal with questions relating to the inclusion of LGBTQ persons and what it means to be an anti-racist church (this at a time when there is significant backlash in the larger culture toward diversity and inclusion, as well as equity).
With the first two chapters focusing on God's limitless love and what that means for the church, in the third chapter, she invites us to "Imagine with Me." In this chapter, she invites us to imagine with her what the church could be, including imagining the kinds of changes that might be required of us. In this chapter, Owens draws on Walter Brueggemann's book The Prophetic Imagination. Central to what she wants to see take place, her vision for the church, is to see the church embrace her priorities of biblical literacy and spiritual growth. She laments the widespread biblical illiteracy in the church and calls on the church to change that reality, even as it embraces spiritual practices that bring renewal to the church. Having invited us to engage in prophetic imagination, she moves on in the fourth chapter to her call for the Disciples to "be the Church We Say We Are." In this chapter, she again calls for the churches to embrace spiritual and contemplative practices, so that spiritual growth can occur. She also warns here agains the dangers of religious institutionalism. I'm sure it occurs to her that she leads a religious institution, which has all the accouterments of an institution. Being that I have been a participant in the institutional church from congregation to middle judicatory to the larger denominational realities (I chaired the board of one of the denomination's ministries and on our General Board). So, I know what this entails. Making changes is not easy because everyone, including the General Minister and President, has a vested interest in the institution. While recognizing this truth, she also calls on the church not to get caught up in preserving the institution at the cost of following Jesus.
These chapters that describe identity and purpose lead to the fifth chapter titled "Staying at the Table." In this chapter, Owens focuses on the role the Table plays in Disciples life and what it means to stay at the Table. Central to this message is the open welcome, so that everyone is welcome, no matter who they are. Again, this invitation is shared at a time when division and polarization are present. She raises the point that the church has a responsibility to speak to matters of social justice, but how can we stay at the table despite disagreements? The sixth chapter takes us the next step to "Changing the Narrative." This is more than transformation. It involves telling our stories and then discerning what they are saying about who we are as church. The challenge here is to engage in something very difficult, and that is truth-telling. She writes that "staying at the table requires honesty, candor, truth telling, but above all a commitment to engage with one another in the love that God has given to us" (p. 94). She concludes with a chapter titled "I Want a Church." Here she offers her vision for the church. It is a vision that seeks to emulate Jesus.
This is a book written by the head of a particular denomination. It draws on Disciples history, theologies, practices, and sense of purpose. That being said, it can speak to other communities as long as the readers understand that it has a specific community in mind. It's a bit like reading a papal encyclical knowing that it speaks to Catholics, but might have something valuable to say to those outside that tradition. As I read, I did notice a few editing issues here and there that should have been caught before publication. Perhaps the most obvious is the title of "chapter" offered by William Barber. On the cover,it rightly suggests that Barber wrote the foreword, while inside it has him offering a preface. It should be the foreword. Having mentioned William Barber, who is a Disciple, but also a leading Civil Rights figure, provides the book with the image of the encyclical. As he points out, an encyclical is a "pastoral letter written to a particular communion with the intention of being overheard." Such is the case here with Terri Hord Owens' "Staying at the Table."
September 13, 2025
Truth. "Wow, oh wow!"
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews