It is called Fort Worth Dish Out, but I call it church

About a year ago I was fortunate to be a part of the first ever Fort Worth Dish Out (website, facebook, twitter). It was crazy fun to be associated with such an event and I am blown away at where the board is taking it these days. Frankly, it is a  source of great personal pride. 

For those who do not know what the Fort Worth Dish Out is, it works like this:

1. Everyone puts in $20 to get access, a meal, booze, fellowship and the ability to hear about 3 local non-profits.
2. Everyone hears the non-profits speak for 5-7 minutes to tell what they do.
3. Everyone votes on the non-profit they would like to support.
4. The winner of the vote gets 60% of the funds, the other two split the remaining 40%.

We can talk about this as an event or a function or a fundraiser or even as a non-profit in its own right. 

But I call it an expression of Church I want to be apart of. 

When we gather for a common cause, break bread, learn, share, have fun, fellowship, encounter new people and new ideas, give, grow and support those around us - I call that Church.

So for those of us who want the Church to continue into the future and ensure that it remains relevant, I would submit that we look at the essence of what is done on a Sunday morning, take those core elements and see what expression of church you will get. 

What can you create with some combination of these elements:

• Learning new things
• Meal
• Meeting people (old and new)
• Giving of resources
• Celebration
• Sharing
• Group participation
• Music
• Dance
• Wine

Sounds like a recipe for Church to me.

The next Fort Worth Dish Out will be held on November 4th at 809 @ Vickery (809 W. Vickery Blvd., Fort Worth, 76104) from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

Fort Worth Dish Out

Last night I participated in the 3rd Fort Worth Dish Out (facebook group). It was at 809 at Vickery and was themed around homelessness issues.  

There were three presenters:

Street Swags

The Net

Restorative Justice 

We had the feeling that only 75 people were going to attend and I was feeling a bit low on that as I think I could have done a better job at increasing our odds of hitting our average. The thing was though, there were over 100 people there last night and I am totally blown away by the response.

It is a prayer that while the Church does not need to do more Dish Outs we do need to learn to trust a bit more. Last night I was not doing well at trusting the idea of Fort Worth Dish Out and believed that the success and failure of such an idea is predicated on me.

That was just way wrong. 

The FwDo has an amazingly wonderful leadership team and one that truly can take this thing and make it their own. 

They embodied a trust in the idea of FwDo that I failed to embody. In more ways than I can count, this leadership team is well equipped to run with the FwDo.

If only I could get out of their way...

Thank you all who work so hard to make the Fort Worth Dish Out a success. Especially the design team of Jenny, Robin, Red and Van. 

Occupy Fort Worth (Dish Out)

You may already be registered for the upcoming Fort Worth Dish Out, and if so great!  And if not, then what is the hold up!


In case you are not aware of what Fort Worth Dish Out is a meal based micro-granting event for local non-profits.

Everyone in attendance buys a ticket ($20 each) and shares in meal, shares in fellowship with the Fort Worth community, hears 3 non-profits in the area, and votes on the non-profit they would like to support.  The winner of the vote gets 60% of the funds collected that night while the other two non-profits each get 20% of the funds.

Based upon the number of people who attend, these non-profits get more funds and exposure!

So this means that if you are looking for a great night of fun as well as making a social impact on Sunday October 23, @ 5:30pm - you ought to be at Fort Worth Dish Out.

You can register here.

Shameless plug and self promotion

It is an honor to be asked to speak any where.  Clergy are asked to speak at sacred moments in peoples' lives and for that it is rather humbling.

Clergy are supposed to be communicators at heart and so to be asked to speak is not uncommon in the life of a clergy person.

It is something else to be asked to come and speak to other clergy (or your peers of any profession I would imagine).

Still humbling, but a bit more scary.  Why I am included in this line up I have no idea, but you can be sure I will be the most uncool person speaker.  (Plus I might not be the most 'inked' person either,)

*UPDATE* It has been brought to my attention that I am not the only one who is responsible for this opportunity.  There are a number of excellent, hard working, creative, and articulate people who worked hard on the Fort Worth Dish Out who could just as easily speak but are unable to take off from work to do so. While this update is a bit too late in the "blogosphere", it is never too late to remedy a situation.

Nadia Bolz-Weber. Way cooler than me