ConnectDinners Newsletter

In this second month of our weekly rhythm, we are moving beyond the logistics of launching and into the heart of the invitation. If January was about opening the doors, February was about experiencing the weight of who walks through them. We are learning that when you set a table open for all, you aren't just providing a meal; you are creating a sanctuary for those who have often felt on the margins of society, those Jesus sought to include. The momentum is shifting from curiosity to commitment as our neighbors begin to see themselves as part of God's Great Banquet.

Ministry Highlights & Wins

The most significant victory of this past month occurred on February 16th, when I shared the "Open Invitation" from the parable of the Great Banquet in Luke 14. While I was preparing to present this story, I felt God was calling me to offer an altar call—a move that felt atypical for a dinner church setting, yet necessary. I shared with our serve team that we would be inviting our neighbors to pray for one another around their tables, which have already become places of deep discussion and growing comfort. We opened the evening with a "kids version" of the story, and though no children were present, eight adults brought their chairs forward to hear the message. Within minutes, the room was filled with streamers and balloons as these neighbors fully embraced the joy and playfulness of the King’s table.

As we transitioned to the adult Jesus Story, I shared how the vision God gave me of ConnectDinners, people from all backgrounds sharing a meal and talking about Jesus, emulates the Great Banquet. I invited anyone who felt they wanted to secure their place at the King’s table to talk with those at their table, if someone at the table didn’t feel comfortable praying with them to accept Jesus, I was also available. Before I could even finish my sentence, a 15-year-old young man I’ll call ‘B’ ran to the front and asked, "I need to do that! I want to pray that prayer! Can you pray with me right now?" I joined him at the table where his grandmother, great aunt, and cousin sat, and I learned that although this was his first time at ConnectDinners, he was ready to submit his life to the Lord. We prayed together as he accepted Jesus as his Savior. I no more than said “Amen” and ‘B’ immediately asked about baptism; his teenage cousin shared that she had been reading the Bible we gave her and she too wanted to be baptized. We are now preparing to celebrate their baptism, along with several others, on Easter Monday.

This sense of belonging was further solidified by ‘T’ who invited neighbors to add their painted handprints on the first picture she painted during our opening night’s Jesus Story, creating a visual representation of the diverse community gathering at our tables.

Key Metrics

Our engagement reached a new peak this month, with our February 23rd gathering setting a record for neighbors seated at the table.

Note: On February 23rd, we served 64 neighbors despite only preparing 60 servings. We did not run out of food and still shared 9 meals with neighbors on the streets.

Challenges & Strategic Adjustments

I've been running our restaurant sponsorship ideas by a few local business leaders to get their take before we go live. Their feedback was eye-opening. It turns out that for most owners, the deciding factor won’t be the "perks" or advertising we offer, but rather our heart for the neighborhood and the mission itself. Because of that, I’m stripping back the recognition tiers to keep the focus on the ministry. I’ll be honest—this is taking a little longer than I’d like. I’m committed to hand-delivering these letters to build a real connection but finding that "sweet spot" where a manager isn't slammed in a mid-meal rush has been a challenge. Once I’ve polished the letter, I’m planning to get two of these into the right hands during each of my stretches off work, which should get us into five or six restaurants a month.

Financial & Administrative Updates

With the help of Pastor Preston, Corbin, Garrett, and his friend, the Pepsi display refrigerator has been moved into the basement at NWConnect. It is in good working order, and we have determined it can function as a freezer, which our team agrees is more valuable for our weekly meal-prep needs. I need to give it a final cleaning, and it will be ready for use. Regarding grant opportunities, we have not yet received a response from Walmart or STCU; we are still within the 30 to 90-day waiting window for both applications.

Old Business & Ongoing Initiatives

• Volunteer Systems & Team Growth: Transitioning our serve team to SignUp.com has been more difficult than I anticipated. In speaking with other volunteer managers, I’ve learned this is a common hurdle. To encourage use, I sent personal emails to our team members to thank them and confirm their future slots. I also offered to manually add their availability to the system if they email me directly. While this has increased participation, ensuring all critical roles are filled remains a point of personal stress. On a positive note, we have added two skilled team members to help manage the trailer and a dedicated kitchen setup person to oversee getting the early kitchen tasks started.
• Dinner Church School of Leadership (DCSL): Our recent sessions have been transformative. We discussed the shift from a church focused on the "Already" (the comfortable) to the Great Commission model focused on the "Not Yet." As Verlon Fosner noted, "Without the Great Commission, Christianity is a noun, not a verb." We are reclaiming the 1st-century definition of evangelism: simply retelling the Jesus Story and how it has affected our lives. At ConnectDinners, we are all evangelists—we are chef evangelists, music evangelists, table evangelists, etc.
  • Insights from the Street: A guest speaker who moved from homelessness to pastoring a dinner church reminded us of the importance of "speaking the language" of our neighbors. The class also challenged our perceptions of homelessness, noting that in today’s economy, even a neighbor in a three-piece suit may be struggling with housing.
  • Discipleship at a Dinner Church: One of the most common questions I receive is, "What is your discipleship model?" To understand our approach, we have to look at the difference between two educational worldviews. Modern Western church discipleship often follows a Greek model, where knowledge leads to action—we study the Word so that we might eventually live it out. However, Dinner Church focuses on the Hebrew model of discipleship, where action leads to knowledge. In this framework, being a true disciple means emulating the Master first. Jesus spent time with people on the fringes of society (tax collectors, the lame, the blind), touched the untouchable (the leper), and sat with the outcast (the Samaritan woman at the well). By "doing" what Jesus did, we begin to "know" Him in a way that classroom study alone cannot provide. This fits perfectly with our philosophy of "belonging before believing"; as neighbors participate in the rhythm of our community, they are discipled by the very environment and actions of the table before they even realize a theological shift is happening.
• District Assembly: I will be participating in a breakout session panel regarding church planting. While we missed the window to host an immersive dinner church meal this year due to existing vendor contracts, there is a strong possibility I will lead an additional breakout session specifically on the dinner church model.

Respectfully submitted,
Pastor Victor Morrison