A Dinner Church flyer at First UMC in Fargo, ND. Photos by Cindy Yeager.

Dinner Church launched at First United Methodist Church in Fargo, North Dakota, in January 2024, fueled by Fresh Expressions. It has become a mainstay in the congregation.

“What does it mean if Jesus leads us in community? We are seeking to be in community.  Dinner Church is about gathering and building community. Since 2024, Dinner Church continues to invite people to gather at the table,” said Rev. Ryan Mutzenberger, senior pastor at Fargo First UMC. “One of the greatest things that has happened is that this is a community. It is church.”

Eight to 12 volunteers faithfully serve each week. They offer a welcoming time to
gather and enjoy food. Every Wednesday night, about 85 people come to the Fellowship Hall at First UMC. Attendees range in age from 2 to 102.

“Dinner Church has a basic theme. ‘You are welcome!’ We have families who are part of the church. Families come from the community looking to be at table and become part of the church. We have singles and couples. Folks from the unhoused community in town come together as a group. Our neighbors are coming,” described Mutzenberger.
Some people who attend Dinner Church head south for the winter. Karen Morrison, a volunteer and member at First UMC, explained, “We have this guy who comes; we call him the ice cream guy, because he loves ice cream. Every year he heads south for the winter. He lives in his car and finds work where he is. He told us he is leaving in a couple of weeks. We will see him again in April or May.”

How it works.
People learn about Dinner Church through word of mouth and community organizations. First UMC invites people through 2-1-1. Fliers and updates are distributed to local homeless shelters and crisis centers. The congregation created a brochure listing Dinner Church and other meals available throughout the week in the community. People can take the fliers and brochures and give them to others.

The kitchen crew, left to right: Emily Garten, Pat Morrison, and Karen Morrison.

Each week, Pat and Karen Morrison prepare a meal at First UMC. Pat shops and cooks the meal.  Karen asks people to bring desserts, bars, and cookies.

“I usually request 5-6 pans of bars, or the equivalent each week. I have 12-15 volunteers from the congregation who graciously, faithfully provide bars or cookies,” said Karen Morrison.
Pat prepares the meal for 85-90 people. One week this fall, 105 people ate at Dinner Church. To-go meals are available after attendees have been served.

“I do most of the cooking. I plan the menus and buy the groceries a month at a time,” explained Pat Morrison. “We do a main dish like hamburgers and hot dogs, hot dishes, country-style ribs, scalloped potatoes and ham, spaghetti, turkey. There is a soup, salad, and sides with each meal.”

The goal is to provide a variety and a hot meal. An effort is made to meet special dietary needs. Pat prepares some dishes from recipes in a cookbook published by the congregation. When he does, he notes the person who submitted the recipe and the page number in the cookbook.

If people share that they have a need, accommodations are made. Most of the meals are gluten-free. Several options are available for people with diabetes. The meals are prepared in the commercially licensed kitchen at First UMC.

At 5 p.m., people are greeted and welcomed in the Fellowship Hall. Upon arrival, people can grab coffee or water and gather at a table. There are donations at tables for people to pick up as needed. Starbucks donates sandwiches and treats. Clothing and hygiene items are available. These items are distributed in Tina Bender’s office before or after Dinner Church.

“People are allowed as much as they want. We serve everyone. Around 5:30 p.m., after everyone has been served, people can come up and get seconds,” said Pat. “We also get to-go meals ready at that time. Most of the time, everyone is served by 5:20.”
“Sometimes other people add to the Starbucks donations. Recently, people picked apples and donated them for guests to take home,” shared Tina Bender.

A table prayer is led by Bender. The prayer is one of the table prayers from the Dakotas Conference Camping Ministry. It is a song with actions.

After the prayer, attendees line up for their meal. About twenty minutes later, Tina leads a devotional time. She tells a Jesus story by reading scripture and then preaches. The five-to-six-minute message applies to today and the issues we face.

“Unlike Sundays, on Wednesdays people will offer an 'Amen' and applause after the message,” shared Pastor Ryan. “It is not the kind of response we are used to.”

Each table has discussion questions related to the message. Participants can discuss the questions or interact with each other.

Communion is offered on the first Wednesday of each month. Pastor Ryan or Bea Kinzler, a retired local licensed pastor from the Iowa Conference, leads the distribution of communion. Communion is celebrated around the table. Pieces of bread and small cups of grape juice are placed on each table. Everyone is invited to partake.

“We do a shortened version of communion. Pastor Ryan blesses the elements. We try to make it as comfortable as possible. The plate is passed around, and people take the bread and cups of juice as they wish,” said Bea Kinzler. “Before we pass the plate, I tell the story of the Last Supper. I try to connect the story of the Last Supper to Tina’s messages. Giving the message that Jesus cared for the disciples, and he cares for us in the same way.”

At 6 p.m., food serving stops. Just before 6 p.m., people begin to leave. A few minutes after six, everyone has departed, and another group meets in the Fellowship Hall.

Telling a Jesus story.

Tina Bender shares a Jesus story.

Tina Bender, retired emergency room nurse and jail chaplain, shares a Jesus story at Dinner Church. The opportunity fell into place after her husband passed away.

“When my husband died, I had no idea what I was going to do. I just said OK, yes, and things fell into place,” Tina explains. “God just steps in and fills in the gaps.”

She maps out eight weeks of messages around a theme. The most recent theme is "What to do with—loneliness, anxiety, fear, failure."

“She understands people’s situations. The message applies to all of us. Tina relates to folks, reminding them that they are a special child of God. It is a community I feel a part of,” said Linda Bates, a member at First UMC and weekly volunteer. “Tina does such a good job that people clap at the end of the message.”

To determine the theme, Tina collects ideas from conversations with people at Dinner Church and Bible studies.

“People talk to me a lot, and it is awesome. They tell me their stories. I ask, ‘What can we help with?’ They tell me, and that gives me an idea for a theme. I outline things out for eight weeks,” Tina said.

The message format includes the topic, a scripture, and a connection to everyday life. For example, under the theme, “What do you do when you feel like a failure?” The story in the Bible about how Peter failed Jesus and denied him was shared. It was related to how we all fail, and Jesus still loves us, just like Peter was still loved.

“You don’t need to carry failure. Jesus responded to Peter with love. He responds to us in that same way,” said Tina. “It is a short message that people can discuss and ask questions.”

Bender describes the message and Dinner Church as a “show me ministry.”  A place where people experience Christian love, and show it.

“It is joy and love shared with others. It is a gentle, not pushy love. I met one girl, Stephanie, through jail chaplaincy. After she got out of jail, Stephanie came to Dinner Church. Now she is graduating from Teen Challenge. It is all because of people’s love,” shared Tina.

Bea Kinzler shares a Jesus story when Tina is unavailable. “I try to relate the topic to scripture and today’s life. I recently talked about loneliness—how we all get lonely and need Jesus,” Bea said. “I enjoy how Tina does her meditations and tells the story. Each week is so different. It depends on the group that is present.”

Prayers are multiplied.

Prayers are collected from guests and volunteers at Dinner Church. Pieces of paper and pens sit on the table. Guests can write down their prayer request and leave it on the table.

“I am amazed at how the guests entrust us with their situations. They pray for jobs, rehabilitation, relationships, and food for the kids. It is amazing. They don’t know us. They are entrusting the people in this church. It is beautiful and gut-wrenching,” stated Linda Bates.

The prayers that are collected by Tina. She writes the prayer requests on a board in the back of the room. This gives volunteers and other guests a chance to pray for others.

“I glance through requests. If there is a glaring concern, like I don’t have any food. I try to grab that person and see how we can help them. I can give them a bag of food, a coat, or hygiene items. I also check on their prayer concern if they return the next week,” explained Tina.

The prayers are shared with the Prayer Team at First UMC. That means each week, 25 people or more pray for others' requests.

Cindy Yeager, a faithful Dinner Church volunteer and longtime member at First UMC, shared, “I feel that there are many meaningful things about volunteering at Dinner Church, but I think the most meaningful to me is being entrusted with the prayer requests of our guests. They are so moving! Everyone is given the opportunity to leave prayer requests with us before they leave. These prayers are collected and then passed on to our prayer team, so their prayers are multiplied!”

How the ministry is financed.

The serving line at First UMC's Dinner Church.

The ministry is financed by donations from participants and the community, as well as grants from the Fargo First UMC Foundation and the Dakotas Methodist Foundation.

A free-will offering is collected each week at the meal. A box is set out for guests to donate. People attending are encouraged to give what they can.

“People give what they can. It could be a dollar. I don’t know where it came from, but last week someone put a $100 bill in the box,” said Linda Bates. “We usually get between $80 and $90 a week. That is not enough to cover the expenses.”

Community groups and businesses have called and volunteered to provide food and serve a meal. A neighboring church prepares and serves a meal annually.

“Our prayer is that other churches and groups would see this as an outreach opportunity,” Pastor Ryan stated. “They could come and serve a meal and experience what a different church would look like.”

The grants from the Fargo First UMC and Dakotas Methodist Foundations have led the ministry to be sustainable.

Dinner Church inspires.

Dinner Church volunteers feel inspired by the guests.

Pat Morrison cooked in the U.S. Air Force. After the military, he worked but also found himself homeless. He has been cooking meals on Wednesdays at First UMC for more than 12 years. First UMC served meals before Dinner Church for church members involved in Wednesday night activities—choir, youth group, Bible study.

“I know what it is like to be homeless. I am paying back what I was given. It is the right thing to do,” Pat Morrison said. “It feels good.”

Karen Morrison, a retired teacher, has volunteered on Wednesdays before Dinner Church. In her retirement, she commits more time to the ministry. She has been involved with Wednesday night meals for 8 years. 

“It is fun to be at Dinner Church. I get to visit with the people that come. I try to sit at a different table each week,” Karen Morrison explains. “I get to visit and show people they are important. Every person that comes is important.”

Tina Bender, a volunteer who shares the Jesus story, finds Dinner Church brings joy. “I get much more out of it than I put in. It is amazing. It is humbling. My life is blessed. Seeing people who have nothing, no place to lay down, experiencing a few minutes of joy with them. Talking with them is a blessing. You feel God’s love. People need to know that we see them and love them. That is what Jesus did,” Tina said.

Linda Bates, a member at First UMC, shows up every week to wash and dry the dishes.  She said, “It sounds like a boring role, but it is a fun role. When guests bring their dishes up to be washed, we get to hear their thanks and compliments. We pass those compliments on to the other volunteers. It is a place where we can greet them,” said Bates. “It is one of the best ministries our church has ever done. Everyone is always welcome.”

The food donations to give away at a recent Dinner Church.

Bea Kinzler attends Dinner Church each week. She started going to dinners at First UMC before Dinner Church began. “I enjoy watching people grow. It is interesting to watch people sit quietly and then to see them start interacting. It is such a joy to see them move from sitting quietly to a constant interaction,” Bea stated. “Getting to know people and watch their spiritual journey is inspiring. Being able to participate in this ministry and interact with the people actively is a gift to me.”

Community building continues.
When Dinner Church began, 30 people attended. Now attendance ranges from 75 to 100+. A core group of volunteers and participants keeps growing. There are always a few new faces. Everyone expects to be welcomed.

“They expect prayer, scripture, and a Jesus story. They expect to feel welcome and experience non-judgmental hospitality. Everyone looks out for each other. It is a family,” explained Pastor Ryan.

Those attending each week now help clear the tables, vacuum, or bring dishes to the dishwashing area. They will wipe off tables and chairs. The load is lightened by the guests.

“We have some volunteers from a Recovery Ministry. Dinner Church is a safe place to meet. A place we remember that we all are children of God and are loved. We all mess up, but we are still loved by God,” said Bates.

Dinner Church participants see First UMC as their church home. Last summer, First UMC had some graffiti spray-painted on the building. One neighbor who attends Dinner Church reported the incident to Pastor Ryan. Pastor Ryan reports that the people who come to Dinner Church are keeping an eye on the building.

“It is a reminder to me that this is their church and their building. This is their church home,” said Pastor Ryan. “We removed the graffiti. Individuals have told me that they know who did it, and have asked them not to do it again.”

Pastor Ryan estimates that 80 percent of Dinner Church attendees do not participate in Sunday worship. The congregation at First UMC sees Dinner Church as integral to who they are as a church. It has become another form of worship for the congregation. 

“We are grateful that we can be part of this,” said Karen Morrison. “We are glad the First Church can make this opportunity available for folks. We enjoy the people.”

Learn more about Dinner Church. 
Connect with Dakotas-Minnesota Fresh Expressions.