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Earlier this semester, one of our new students turned to me—while we were eating breakfast together after our Friday morning Eucharist—and said, “We eat together so often around here.”

“Of course,” I said, “it’s a major part of what it means to be a student here!”

My response was meant to be humorous but I think the exchange points to a deeper truth. Our mission as a college is to prepare people to lead Christian congregations and that involves education and formation, time spent in the classroom, in chapel, and in study. But the college is also a Christian community and part of the way we deepen and expand that community is by eating together. I often say that “when we eat together, we eat twice.” We gather first around the communion table to share bread (or sometimes wafers) and wine (or sometimes grape juice) with one another and with Christ present in our midst. Then we gather around a meal table to continue our fellowship with one another and with Christ. Our mid-day communion services on Wednesday are one pivot point of the week and our Friday morning communion services followed by breakfast begin to draw the week to a close.

This fall our eating together has evolved in new directions. Another one of our new students works part time at a factory that packs and ships bread products—not just loafs of white or brown bread, but also bagels, hot dog buns, naan, and so much more. Twice a week, he brings some of the extra to share with the community. Between that bread and a never-empty jar of peanut butter, our eating together now includes informal lunches, snack breaks, and cups of coffee (with bread) shared with whomever happens to be around.

Eating together seems particularly important in the ministry context we inhabit today. More people are feeling isolated and alone, and losing a sense of hope in the future. More people are actually hungry and wondering where the next meal will come from. The challenges and troubles we encounter in the headlines and in our local churches can feel overwhelming. There can be a tendency to withdraw into oneself, to retreat from connection with other people.

But that’s not what Jesus was about. The gospels tell us that Jesus himself spent a lot of time eating. Sometimes he was a guest at the meals of others, like the wedding feast at Cana or when he invites himself over for a meal at the home of Matthew the tax collector. Other times he was the host, like when he fed the multitudes of hungry people or presided over the Last Supper. Jesus was constantly reaching out to and connecting with other people, drawing them closer to him and deeper into the love of God—often through a meal. When Christians eat together, both in a sacramental fashion in the Eucharist and around a table together, we doing the same.

I see the fruits of our shared meals all around the college. It’s there in the new relationship between two students of strikingly different backgrounds who find new friendship in Christ emerging over a shared sandwich. I see it in the study groups and impromptu theological debates that emerge from meals. I see it in the way that sharing a meal with someone gives us the courage to ask them about themselves and learn more about their call to ministry.

There are lots of changes taking place in the church and world today and theological education is under lots of pressure. Elsewhere in this newsletter you’ll read about some of the ways we are adapting to serve the church in new ways. But at our core, this college remains a Christian community praying, studying, learning, and most definitely eating together as we seek to serve Christ and his church in this time. Thank you for your support that allows us to continue to be this place of nourishment—in so many ways—for those who come to study with us.

Faithfully yours in Christ,

The Rev. Dr. Jesse Zink
Principal