https://thetablechurch.org/blog Each Sunday's sermon, written up, from The Table Church in Washington, DC. en-us Tue, 10 Nov 2026 17:00:00 GMT https://thetablechurch.org/blog/nevertheless-i-preached https://thetablechurch.org/blog/nevertheless-i-preached Tue, 10 Nov 2026 17:00:00 GMT Heidi Mills Heidi Mills reads 1 Corinthians 11 and 14, the verses used to silence women in church, and finds the one thing Paul never argues about. https://thetablechurch.org/blog/kbhalqe9wssugjw18unl15hs9klso8 https://thetablechurch.org/blog/kbhalqe9wssugjw18unl15hs9klso8 Wed, 07 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott We're in a series on 1 Corinthians that we've been calling Hot Takes. It's a mix of Paul's hot takes, the church's hot takes on Paul, and Corinth's hot… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/excellent-answers-cant-get-us-to-excellent-love https://thetablechurch.org/blog/excellent-answers-cant-get-us-to-excellent-love Tue, 29 Sep 2026 17:00:00 GMT We live in a world of hot takes. Everybody has a strong opinion, a compelling idea, and a thread explaining why everyone else is wrong. This fall at The… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/church-is-a-group-project https://thetablechurch.org/blog/church-is-a-group-project Thu, 24 Sep 2026 17:00:00 GMT Around this time of year, twenty-two years ago, I found myself in a precarious situation. I had just moved from my home state of North Carolina to… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-beauty-and-the-cost-of-following https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-beauty-and-the-cost-of-following Thu, 17 Sep 2026 17:00:00 GMT A reflection on Luke 14:25-35 There's a moment from years ago that I still carry in my body. I was pastoring a different community back then, and I'd… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/what-is-your-life-prefiguring-on-two-sons-a-vineyard-and-the-future-we-keep-performing-instead-of-building https://thetablechurch.org/blog/what-is-your-life-prefiguring-on-two-sons-a-vineyard-and-the-future-we-keep-performing-instead-of-building Tue, 18 Aug 2026 17:00:00 GMT It wasn't too long ago that I felt a vibrant hope that we were right on the cliff's edge of a new world. I remember it the way you remember weather — a… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/whose-imagination-will-you-live-inside https://thetablechurch.org/blog/whose-imagination-will-you-live-inside Tue, 07 Jul 2026 17:00:00 GMT The first post in our summer series, Dangerous Imaginations: The Parables of Jesus & Afrofuturism. "Prodigy is, at its essence, adaptability and… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/akvmxrilow8o94coe6vg5z5k9piad1 https://thetablechurch.org/blog/akvmxrilow8o94coe6vg5z5k9piad1 Thu, 04 Jun 2026 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott On money, identity, and the terrifying freedom of letting go There's a man I keep thinking about. His name was Anthony — not someone from our… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/weve-been-doing-power-wrong https://thetablechurch.org/blog/weve-been-doing-power-wrong Tue, 12 May 2026 17:00:00 GMT I want to start with a Tuesday morning in Decatur, Georgia. August 20th, 2013. A woman named Antoinette Tuff is sitting in the front office of an… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-weight-we-wont-put-down https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-weight-we-wont-put-down Tue, 28 Apr 2026 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott When I was in high school, my favorite book to teach was Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried . I say "teach" because I was an English teacher before I… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-47-second-life-on-attention-exhaustion-and-the-things-that-were-never-yours-to-carry https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-47-second-life-on-attention-exhaustion-and-the-things-that-were-never-yours-to-carry Tue, 21 Apr 2026 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott Part of the Everything We Carry series — Acts 1:6-11 I installed and uninstalled Instagram at least a dozen times this week.I wish that were an… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-world-is-on-fire-make-dinner-anyway https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-world-is-on-fire-make-dinner-anyway Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott This week I picked up dog poop while simultaneously processing the news that our president had threatened to destroy a civilization. I wish I were being… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/easter-is-a-jailbreak-and-i-mean-that-literally https://thetablechurch.org/blog/easter-is-a-jailbreak-and-i-mean-that-literally Fri, 10 Apr 2026 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott I want to be honest with you about something before we go any further. Every year when Easter comes around, I feel a kind of holy tension. On one side… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/ride-the-donkey-three-ways-to-respond-to-empireby-anthony-parrott https://thetablechurch.org/blog/ride-the-donkey-three-ways-to-respond-to-empireby-anthony-parrott Wed, 08 Apr 2026 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott Full disclosure: I wrote this sermon in a couple of hours the day before I preached it. Palm Sunday, I told myself, we're not breaking tons of new ground… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/from-bride-to-scream-and-back-again https://thetablechurch.org/blog/from-bride-to-scream-and-back-again Mon, 09 Mar 2026 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott I want to tell you about a love poem that goes wrong. It starts beautifully. God is speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, and the voice is tender, almost… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-story-you-told-yourself-about-breaking https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-story-you-told-yourself-about-breaking Tue, 03 Mar 2026 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott I want to tell you about a pot. Two pots, actually. And I want to tell you why the difference between them might be the most important thing you think… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-your-heart-has-frozen-over-learning-to-thaw https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-your-heart-has-frozen-over-learning-to-thaw Tue, 24 Feb 2026 17:00:00 GMT I have to be honest with you about something. I've been a pastor long enough to know that sometimes the most dangerous thing religion does isn't… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-the-dream-becomes-a-nightmare-learning-to-listen-in-times-of-exile https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-the-dream-becomes-a-nightmare-learning-to-listen-in-times-of-exile Sat, 24 Jan 2026 17:00:00 GMT In August 1967, four years after his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood before a gathering in Chicago and delivered words… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/stop-pleading-inadequacy-what-jeremiah-teaches-us-about-surviving-saturday https://thetablechurch.org/blog/stop-pleading-inadequacy-what-jeremiah-teaches-us-about-surviving-saturday Wed, 14 Jan 2026 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott I have a confession to make: I am not a "ringer." For those of you who don't know (and honestly, I just learned this recently), that's what devoted fans… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-carpenter-who-chose-solidarity-what-joseph-teaches-us-about-scrubbing-off-what-doesnt-serve https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-carpenter-who-chose-solidarity-what-joseph-teaches-us-about-scrubbing-off-what-doesnt-serve Tue, 23 Dec 2025 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott I didn't grow up with the church calendar. In my house, "lint" was something you picked off your clothes and threw in the trash, not a season of spiritual… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-despair-feels-easier-than-hope-a-meditation-on-john-the-baptists-crisis https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-despair-feels-easier-than-hope-a-meditation-on-john-the-baptists-crisis Sat, 13 Dec 2025 17:00:00 GMT I started last Sunday's sermon by asking people to share their guilty pleasures. You know, those things we do that we're slightly embarrassed to admit but… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-hope-becomes-your-most-radical-act-rereading-revelation-for-dissident-disciples https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-hope-becomes-your-most-radical-act-rereading-revelation-for-dissident-disciples Mon, 24 Nov 2025 17:00:00 GMT I'll never forget the sound. Standing about fifty yards from the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, our group of Black faith… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-death-itself-dies-rethinking-hell-fire-and-what-comes-after https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-death-itself-dies-rethinking-hell-fire-and-what-comes-after Tue, 18 Nov 2025 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott I spent part of this week scrolling through a Twitter thread about "cause of death" moments—those tiny paper cuts of daily life that make you want to burn… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-both-sides-miss-the-point-what-revelation-actually-teaches-about-salvation https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-both-sides-miss-the-point-what-revelation-actually-teaches-about-salvation Tue, 11 Nov 2025 17:00:00 GMT I got saved when I was 12 years old. At least I think it was about 12—I can't quite remember the exact moment. Growing up in one of those Baptocostal… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-wrath-ends-finding-hope-in-revelations-most-violent-chapters https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-wrath-ends-finding-hope-in-revelations-most-violent-chapters Tue, 04 Nov 2025 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott I have a confession: I love a good petty revenge story. You know the ones. The police officer who leaves a coloring book page on someone's windshield with… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/dragons-births-and-the-stories-that-keep-us-going https://thetablechurch.org/blog/dragons-births-and-the-stories-that-keep-us-going Wed, 22 Oct 2025 17:00:00 GMT I have a confession: I love the weird parts of the Bible. You know the ones I'm talking about. The passages where Sunday School teachers get a little… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/hwacvhu4z29pr9esydwhpcsd63nbh1 https://thetablechurch.org/blog/hwacvhu4z29pr9esydwhpcsd63nbh1 Mon, 13 Oct 2025 17:00:00 GMT Here's a question that will haunt future generations: In the Flo Rida song "Low," when he raps about "apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur," is he… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-the-government-calls-you-anti-american-reading-revelation-as-dissident-discipleship https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-the-government-calls-you-anti-american-reading-revelation-as-dissident-discipleship Tue, 30 Sep 2025 17:00:00 GMT The past few days brought us a new National Security Directive—not quite an executive order, but close enough to make you pay attention. Its stated… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/swimming-in-babylon-why-we-cant-see-the-systems-that-control-us https://thetablechurch.org/blog/swimming-in-babylon-why-we-cant-see-the-systems-that-control-us Wed, 24 Sep 2025 17:00:00 GMT I am very much the product of my parents, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Sunday mornings in our house meant gospel music filling the kitchen while… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/reading-revelation-for-the-resistance-why-the-worlds-most-misunderstood-book-might-be-our-guide-for-turbulent-times https://thetablechurch.org/blog/reading-revelation-for-the-resistance-why-the-worlds-most-misunderstood-book-might-be-our-guide-for-turbulent-times Fri, 19 Sep 2025 17:00:00 GMT Pastor Anthony and I knew we needed to tackle the Book of Revelation eventually—that wild, violent, deeply misunderstood text that most of us have either… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/vlq8lbdz5o2bqoctufgw08ba2c6ebx https://thetablechurch.org/blog/vlq8lbdz5o2bqoctufgw08ba2c6ebx Thu, 11 Sep 2025 17:00:00 GMT TONETTA LANDIS-AINA I spent my entire sabbatical summer avoiding church, and it was one of the holiest things I've ever done. I know how that sounds… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-your-brain-gets-stuck-reading-david-and-goliath-as-a-trauma-story https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-your-brain-gets-stuck-reading-david-and-goliath-as-a-trauma-story Thu, 14 Aug 2025 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott When Your Brain Gets Stuck: Reading David and Goliath as a Trauma Story I've been thinking a lot lately about why certain Bible stories stick with us… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/learning-to-stay-calm-in-the-storm-the-art-of-non-anxious-presence https://thetablechurch.org/blog/learning-to-stay-calm-in-the-storm-the-art-of-non-anxious-presence Tue, 12 Aug 2025 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott Yesterday I was stressed about finishing this sermon. We had company in town who wanted to do "city things"—Ocean City, museums, the whole D.C. tourist… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-anxiety-virus-how-family-systems-shape-us-and-how-to-break-free https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-anxiety-virus-how-family-systems-shape-us-and-how-to-break-free Tue, 12 Aug 2025 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott I have a hat at home that says, "Do you really think this is a good idea?" It sits in a very visible place as a reminder that I need to pause and ask… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/finding-your-way-when-you-dont-know-where-youre-going-a-guide-to-discernment https://thetablechurch.org/blog/finding-your-way-when-you-dont-know-where-youre-going-a-guide-to-discernment Mon, 11 Aug 2025 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott I have a hat at home that says, "Do you really think this is a good idea?" I keep it in a very visible place to remind myself that I need to stop and ask… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-beautiful-conundrum-of-calling-what-it-really-means-to-live-worthy https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-beautiful-conundrum-of-calling-what-it-really-means-to-live-worthy Mon, 11 Aug 2025 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott I've been thinking a lot lately about the word "conundrum." Merriam-Webster defines it as "an intricate and difficult problem," and honestly, that feels… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-practice-of-paying-attention-finding-faith-when-everything-feels-overwhelming https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-practice-of-paying-attention-finding-faith-when-everything-feels-overwhelming Sun, 10 Aug 2025 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott I want to start with a story that's been haunting me lately. It's from a poet and rapper named Propaganda, and it goes like this: A man realizes he's been… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/finding-gods-voice-in-the-chaos-why-bible-roulette-isnt-your-best-bet https://thetablechurch.org/blog/finding-gods-voice-in-the-chaos-why-bible-roulette-isnt-your-best-bet Sun, 29 Jun 2025 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott I'll be honest with you—some of the most desperate spiritual moments of my life have involved frantically flipping through a Bible, closing my eyes, and… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-real-work-happens-beneath-the-surface https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-real-work-happens-beneath-the-surface Sun, 22 Jun 2025 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott You cannot trust what you see on the internet. We all know this by now, but it becomes more painfully obvious every single day. Those perfectly curated… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-exhaustion-epidemic-why-self-optimization-is-sabotaging-your-soul https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-exhaustion-epidemic-why-self-optimization-is-sabotaging-your-soul Sun, 15 Jun 2025 17:00:00 GMT by Pastor Heidi Mills, MDiv I'll sleep when I'm dead. I have so many plates spinning. I'm working myself to the bone. These phrases have become the… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/disability-justice-at-gods-table-reimagining-our-faith-communities https://thetablechurch.org/blog/disability-justice-at-gods-table-reimagining-our-faith-communities Sun, 18 May 2025 17:00:00 GMT Rev. Tonetta Landia-Aina A few years back, I found myself in a setting I had never envisioned—completing my clinical pastoral education (CPE) at the… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/radically-inclusive-disability-theology-and-the-justice-of-god https://thetablechurch.org/blog/radically-inclusive-disability-theology-and-the-justice-of-god Sun, 04 May 2025 17:00:00 GMT Tonetta Landis-Aina and Panel I'm wearing my "radically inclusive" hat today. It's my favorite hat, and I'm wearing it despite being raised to believe you… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/cast-yourself-into-the-sea-faith-when-the-world-is-burning https://thetablechurch.org/blog/cast-yourself-into-the-sea-faith-when-the-world-is-burning Sun, 20 Apr 2025 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott I've been dreading preaching this Easter sermon. Normally, it's the coveted slot—the day when the most people show up, when the most eyes are watching… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/self-compassion-the-missing-piece-in-sacred-self-care https://thetablechurch.org/blog/self-compassion-the-missing-piece-in-sacred-self-care Sun, 06 Apr 2025 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott Every year without fail, I encounter this Leonard Cohen lyric: "Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack, a crack… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/you-are-your-best-thing-embodiment-as-radical-self-love https://thetablechurch.org/blog/you-are-your-best-thing-embodiment-as-radical-self-love Sun, 23 Mar 2025 17:00:00 GMT by Tonetta Landis-Aina Toni Morrison's 1987 novel Beloved holds a special place in my heart. I've often reflected on how its depiction of Hush Harbors… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/rest-is-not-earned-a-theology-of-self-care https://thetablechurch.org/blog/rest-is-not-earned-a-theology-of-self-care Mon, 10 Mar 2025 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott I was scrolling through social media when I came across a story about a teacher asking kids about their dream jobs. The kids shared typical answers like… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-bubble-bath-rebellion-sacred-self-care-in-times-of-crisis https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-bubble-bath-rebellion-sacred-self-care-in-times-of-crisis Mon, 03 Mar 2025 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott So here we are. I feel a deep privilege writing this reflection after our homecoming Sunday, where we celebrated the Table Church, which began around a… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/divine-gravity-rethinking-gods-house-gods-way-and-gods-nature https://thetablechurch.org/blog/divine-gravity-rethinking-gods-house-gods-way-and-gods-nature Sun, 23 Feb 2025 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott In our recent exploration of John 14, we encountered three fundamental questions about Christianity that deserve fresh examination: Where is God's house?… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-sacred-act-of-leaving-finding-god-in-holy-departure https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-sacred-act-of-leaving-finding-god-in-holy-departure Sun, 16 Feb 2025 17:00:00 GMT By Tonetta Landis-Aina Several years ago, while I was deeply immersed in church planting and pastoring Resurrection City (which later merged with the… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/living-water-in-exhausting-times-rethinking-scarcity-rest-and-renewal https://thetablechurch.org/blog/living-water-in-exhausting-times-rethinking-scarcity-rest-and-renewal Mon, 03 Feb 2025 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott I've been thinking a lot lately about exhaustion. Not just the kind that comes from a long day, but the bone-deep weariness that seems endemic to our… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-jesus-riots-embracing-creative-anger-and-holy-disruption https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-jesus-riots-embracing-creative-anger-and-holy-disruption Sun, 19 Jan 2025 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott Recently, I've been thinking about anger. Specifically, the kind of explosive, creative anger that leads to transformation. The kind that makes people… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/beyond-new-beginnings-finding-life-in-the-gospel-of-john https://thetablechurch.org/blog/beyond-new-beginnings-finding-life-in-the-gospel-of-john Sun, 05 Jan 2025 17:00:00 GMT In progressive Christian circles like ours, the new year can be complicated terrain to navigate. We recognize January 1st as an artificial boundary, yet… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-most-dangerous-words https://thetablechurch.org/blog/the-most-dangerous-words Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott Last Sunday, I opened my sermon with a quintessentially Midwestern scenario: the last piece of pizza sitting untouched because everyone's too polite to… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/poetry-peace-amp-wild-prophets-finding-beauty-in-lifes-contrasts-rev-tonetta-landis-aina https://thetablechurch.org/blog/poetry-peace-amp-wild-prophets-finding-beauty-in-lifes-contrasts-rev-tonetta-landis-aina Sun, 08 Dec 2024 17:00:00 GMT Words have been my companions since childhood, particularly beautiful words arranged with precision and grace. Or to put it more simply: I have loved… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/dgewal9rj326obzqruhbbc9fq5wrqg https://thetablechurch.org/blog/dgewal9rj326obzqruhbbc9fq5wrqg Mon, 02 Dec 2024 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott In a world engineered to fragment our focus, I've been thinking deeply about the revolutionary act of paying attention. As we enter Advent - the beginning… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/dont-be-afraid-rethinking-church-economics-luke-1232 https://thetablechurch.org/blog/dont-be-afraid-rethinking-church-economics-luke-1232 Sun, 24 Nov 2024 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott When Jesus says "don't be afraid," it's not a dismissal or chiding of our fears. Rather, it's an intimate embrace, like a parent holding a frightened… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/what-is-church-reflections-from-your-pastors-owxe2 https://thetablechurch.org/blog/what-is-church-reflections-from-your-pastors-owxe2 Thu, 21 Nov 2024 17:00:00 GMT By Pastors Tonetta Landis-Aina and Anthony Parrott As we lead The Table Church together, we find ourselves regularly returning to fundamental questions… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/a-future-with-hope-finding-gods-dreams-in-unexpected-places https://thetablechurch.org/blog/a-future-with-hope-finding-gods-dreams-in-unexpected-places Sun, 17 Nov 2024 17:00:00 GMT I've always had a complicated relationship with Jeremiah 29:11. You know the verse - it's the one about God having "plans to prosper you and not to harm… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/dreaming-beyond-empire-finding-hope-in-apocalyptic-times https://thetablechurch.org/blog/dreaming-beyond-empire-finding-hope-in-apocalyptic-times Sun, 10 Nov 2024 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott Last Sunday marked the conclusion of our Shadowboxing series, where we've been exploring our deepest fears and how they intersect with our faith. We've… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-grief-and-hope-dance-together-a-reflection-on-loss-and-faith https://thetablechurch.org/blog/when-grief-and-hope-dance-together-a-reflection-on-loss-and-faith Mon, 04 Nov 2024 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott By Pastor Anthony Parrott Authentic grief and defiant hope can coexist - and must coexist - as we face death and loss. We don't need to choose between… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/forgive-us-repent-and-repair https://thetablechurch.org/blog/forgive-us-repent-and-repair Sat, 17 Feb 2024 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott Sundays at 10:30 AM and 5:00 PM Embark on a transformative journey this Lenten season with our thought-provoking sermon series, "Forgive Us: Repent and… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/whiteness-is-not-a-numbers-games https://thetablechurch.org/blog/whiteness-is-not-a-numbers-games Mon, 15 Jan 2024 17:00:00 GMT Anthony Parrott These two quotes by Dr. King must be read close together, or otherwise, they're likely to be distorted: The arc of the moral universe is long, but it… https://thetablechurch.org/blog/embracing-new-beginnings https://thetablechurch.org/blog/embracing-new-beginnings Mon, 08 Jan 2024 17:00:00 GMT The page has been turned. We have arrived into the new year whether we have been prepared for the crossing…or thrown headlong over the threshold. While…