By Greg Clark 
Communications Team 

At first glance, it just looks like a table. An oversized piece of furniture. 

But it’s so much more. 

That’s because it anchors a congregation’s fellowship hall with joy and love as surely as the Communion table blesses the sanctuary with hope and peace. 

And this table, like the Communion table, is sacramental in its own way as it supports Jesus’s call to “feed my sheep.” 

It has graced the Beacon Heights Congregation’s activities in Independence, Missouri, USA, since the early 1980s, when it moved from the nearby Blue Valley Stake office. 

At first glance, it just looks like a table. An oversized piece of furniture. 

But it’s so much more. 

Since then, in part because of its size (five feet wide by sixteen feet long at its broadest points), it hasn’t moved again. But it has played a key role in moving people to deeper discipleship. It also has seen people moved to tears of joy, sorrow, and laughter. 

And it has helped feed tens of thousands of people in many ways over the last forty-plus years. Consider: 

• Every Sunday for decades, activities have begun with a prayer breakfast. Members and guests enjoy a light meal and then share prayer requests, good news, announcements, acknowledgement of special events, and more. It’s a time to deepen congregational-family connections while sharing sorrows, joys, and everyday life. 

• For well over a decade, a ministry called Neighborhood Networks has provided food twice a month to struggling families and individuals. Several acknowledge how important the program is in helping them survive and thrive. They leave with bread, meat, produce, and sometimes spiritual and personal connections.  

• Potlucks of all kinds have welcomed members, visitors, and friends. Sometimes the meals are held in celebration, such as at Thanksgiving. Sometimes they’re held as a prelude to meetings. And sometimes they’re held just for fun. Always, they’re filling, fulfilling, fun, and full of opportunities to swap recipes. 

• Receptions—for weddings, memorial services, graduations, and more—have nourished the soul as well as the bodies. Cookies, cakes, pastries, and snacks provide comfort and celebration.  

• Another decades-long tradition, Breakfast with Santa, brings pancakes smothered in butter and syrup, sausage, and other special treats. 

• Special events, such as baby showers and recitals, come with punch, finger food, and oodles of yummies. 

• Congregational gatherings, such as Valentine dinners, chili cookoffs, and game nights, have provided time to gather for food and fun. 

• Congregational business meetings—adhering to the “if you feed them, they will come” philosophy, have included sandwiches, chips, salads, and desserts, providing time for fellowship and formal discussion. 

And the table, covered with a deep-brown laminate, has done more than nourish the multitudes; it has served as a key to providing ministry at pre-school clothing exchanges and an aid in fundraisers such as garage sales, book sales, and even a silent auction. 

At themed congregation events, it’s even served as the foundation for a castle and a pirate ship! Arggggh! 

Through it all, the table has supported Blessings in Community...

And when a public school temporarily was forced from its building a few years back, the table served in a temporary classroom. Of course, that transition was easy because over the years the table has seen hundreds of Sunday-school classes. 

Through it all, the table has supported Blessings in Community, as well as all the Mission Initiatives. And it’s still open in welcome to all—just like the church’s other table.