Gathering Table Pop-Up Dinners

Partner

Project Leader

Leader: Jeff Klitz

Phone: 1 (559) 260-3721

Email Leader

A table that pops up throughout the community

The heartbeat of the Gathering Table ministry is hosting Pop-Up Dinners throughout our community that brings people together who are different from one another around one common table to share a meal and hear one another's stories.

Psalm 107:2-3 says, “Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story – those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.”

Gathering Table is a ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18), with the purpose being focused on breaking down barriers between people and God. We create opportunities at the table for guests to share their story in some way. For example, a common question we have used is, "What is a hardship you have gone though, and how did you get through it?" We use an open-ended question like this one that anyone can answer. As followers of Jesus, God's redemption story is interwoven in our story - the two are unseparable. By answering this question about a hardship we have gone through, the believers around the table are naturally sharing what God has done in their life with those at the table who might not know Jesus. In this regard, these dinners are primarily evangelistic.

At the end of each dinner, we get to share what we call the "Gospel Takeaway" with our guests, by speaking the hope of Jesus Christ into the life stories that have been shared during the meal.

This table ministry is messy and beautiful at the same time. Heartbreaking stories are often shared (which is the messy part, as people respond to this in all kinds of ways), and vulnerability is almost always the atmosphere around the table, often between people who are complete strangers. Our prayer for each dinner is that gospel seeds are planted in the hearts of our guests (both believers and unbelievers alike, as we all need to hear the hope of Jesus regularly) and that lasting connections are made between the church and the unchurched ultimately leading the lost to come to know Jesus.

Everything is 100 percent paid for through donations, so that our guests can enjoy an amazing experience without the burden of covering any costs.

Each dinner seats between 10-20 people and costs between $400-$500, depending on the number of guests, the food and the venue.

2025 marks the fifth year of doing Pop-Up Dinners in our community. Since 2021, Gathering Table has hosted:

- Over 15 Pop-Up dinners in Fresno, Clovis, Sanger and Kingsburg

- Over 100 guests, many attended multiple dinners

- Over 200 plates of delicious food served from local restaurants

There are a number of ways you can support upcoming dinners:

- Give a donation towards Gathering Table

- Purchase a Spoon Ring and/or Raw Honey at the Collective 103 in Old Town Clovis (proceeds go to Gathering Table)

- Give toward the 2025 Collective Spot Campaign

Sandy's Country Junction in Old Town Clovis

Papa's Place in Old Town Clovis

Gazebo Gardens in Tower District

Visit our website for FAQ and upcoming dinners.

www.gatheringtablefarms.com

Recent Project News

Waiting for the Autumn Rains

“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.” (James 5:7-8) This is a fitting verse for us, not only because of this late season heat wave in the valley where we are all waiting for it to cool off finally!!, but also because it describes the posture that the Lord has kept the Gathering Table ministry in all year long. We are learning to wait on the Lord. A couple recent testimonies: Bi-Monthly Team Meetings If you’re not familiar with Gathering Table, we are a ministry that, at the moment, primarily hosts pop-up dinners every other month as an outreach to bring the good news of Jesus to our community. (You can read more about them on our page on Go Mission.) During the in between, or “off-months”, we have our team meetings to pray and plan for the next upcoming dinner. This past meeting in September, we we spent about 15 minutes listening individually to the Lord, specifically asking God two questions: -What does God want to do at this upcoming dinner? -How does God want to use the gifts He has given you at this next dinner? It’s amazing that when we spend just a little bit of time listening to what God has to say, he not only speaks but guides the entire direction of our lives and in this case the planning of the next dinner. After sharing as a team what each of us heard from the Lord regarding the upcoming dinner, it was evident that God had given us each individually some clear direction for the answers to the two questions we asked. We didn’t leave the team meeting with a burdensome to-do list (which is often the case for ministry planning meetings), but with a clear direction for what God wants to do and how we can partner with what He is already doing. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. It confirmed to me that the Gathering Table team is not an “event planning committee”, though that is needed at times, but it it a serving ministry to show our community the hands and feet of Jesus in both our words and our actions. We are excited for what God has planned and what He is doing in each of our lives and as a team. Bee Keeping Apprenticeship We just wrapped up the 2026 Bee Keeping Apprenticeship (BKA) that went from May-September, where we hosted a Bible study every other Saturday morning with 3 local veterans, while also starting 3 bee hives together as a fun way to build relationship and community with one another. It’s hard to express all that God did during this time. Each of the men, including me (Jeff), were personally impacted by this time together. As someone who is not a veteran, being around 3 veterans was very eye opening. All 3 have struggled and still do struggle with PTSD in some way or another. I realized after the BKA, that there is a great need in the veteran community for groups like the BKA- hands-on, community-focused interaction, that is BIBLE BASED AND JESUS CENTERED. There are a lot of programs out there that do the first part (activities, community), but not many that are Christ-centered and boldly share that Jesus is the only way any of us will find true healing and peace in this life. As part of the apprenticeship, we got to bless each of the 3 veterans with a unique study Bible to keep, to encourage them to continue diving into God’s word and growing in their relationship with Jesus. If this is something that you would like to donate toward, click here. Prayer If you would like to partner with us in prayer, please be praying for what comes next for the three veterans who participated in the BKA- that they would find a church community to plug into and take their next steps in following Jesus. One of the men is still on the edge of receiving salvation. Pray over our October 11 Pop-up dinner for the testimonies and the gospel shared to take root in people’s hearts and for lasting connections to be made. And lastly, for vision for Gathering Table for next year. We are starting to seek the Lord for the next steps for the ministry, including doing the BKA again next year, possibly opening it up to men and women as there have been a lot of women expressing interest in it, and finishing writing down the vision for a working farm ministry that temporarily houses and hosts people who feel stuck in life to find hope and purpose in Christ. Photo highlights of the 2026 BKA with the 3 veterans

How Jesus Took the Little We Had to Do Something Great

How Jesus Took the Little We Had to Do Something Great Photos: 17 guests from the community gathered around the table at the Winter Wonderland Pop-Up Dinner in Old Town Clovis this past weekend; the two men who were part of the bee keeping apprenticeship this year, bravely standing in front of the hive last month without bee suits! (they had just taken their suits off) As we reflect on the year, we can see how God took the little that we had to offer him and used it to do beyond what we could imagine or think. As we prayed for God’s direction for Gathering Table earlier this year, I (Jeff) was challenged by the story of Jesus multiplying the fives loaves of bread and two fish to feed over 5,000 people. What struck me as I read this passage, was how the disciples first had to give up the little they had to Jesus. 16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” 17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. 18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. (Matthew 14:16-18) In our eyes, it doesn’t seem like much, likely their meal (or someone else's meal) for the evening. What’s one meal? And it’s safe to say it wasn’t a life or death decision for them. BUT they still had to give it up, and trust Jesus to do whatever he wanted with it. If they had held onto what they had, they would’ve only fed themselves. And more importantly, they would’ve missed out on Jesus displaying his glory as the Bread of Life by feeding thousands of people. In a similar way, it felt what we had to offer God as a ministry this year was very little and yet costly at the same time. For some context, Kristy and I had just had our third child together last December. So everything about the year ahead seemed more daunting than usual, especially as we began to plan five Pop-Up Dinners for the year while anticipating juggling a newborn at some of those dinners. In addition, I felt like it was God’s timing to make a first small step in the direction for us to combine ministry and farming by doing our first year of a Beekeeping Apprenticeship, where we would disciple a couple young men by reading passages of scripture together while they learned the basics of bee keeping. While this wouldn’t be a huge commitment, it would require us giving of some of our free time (which usually consists of juggling our three littles) to meet with these men a couple of times a month over about 6 months. God was asking us to give him the little we had, so that he could multiply it into something beyond anything we could accomplish on our own. So we did. We gave to God our time and our comforts. We stepped out into our simple plan of hosting Pop-Up Dinners every other month this year and doing the 6-month long bee keeping apprenticeship. Like the disciples in this story, it wasn’t life or death for us, but it was still challenging to give God the little we had to offer. So where is the multiplying? How did and is God using the little we have given to him this year? 1. He is multiplying faithfulness in me and Kristy. We have labored this year to continue to be faithful with what we have been given. It has been a labor prompted by love, especially this year with a newborn. God is working in us, as we learn to trust and wait on him. 2. He is multiplying our team! We had the privilege this year to partner with 3 young ladies in planning and leading the Pop-Up Dinners. It has been such a joy to learn to follow Jesus together and learn from each other, as He continues to lead this ministry. 3. He is multiplying his kingdom. God is always at work, and his word never returns void. As we are being faithful in sowing seeds of the Gospel at these dinners, we are seeing God’s kingdom sprout up like a seedling that is starting to bear lasting fruit – unbelievers being challenged by testimonies of God working in people’s lives and being drawn closer to Jesus; new believers finding connection and discipleship; people taking their next steps in following Jesus. It has been so much fun this year seeing God multiply our efforts, and we are excited to see where God takes Gathering Table next year. As we begin to plan and dream into 2026, we can anticipate that once again Jesus will ask us to give to him the little we have in our hands. And we can trust that he will be faithful to do the work of multiplying what we give him for the glory of his name and his kingdom. Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. (Psalm 115:1)

"God, What Are You Doing?" Reflections on the October Pop-Up Dinner

"God, What Are You Doing?" Reflections on the October Pop-Up Dinner Photos (below) - Behind the scenes from the October dinner, from loading up the truck, setting up the table in the "Breezeway" of Old Town Clovis, to making the final touches to the table as guests begin to arrive. I (Jeff) found myself during our Pop-Up Dinner last month, continually asking "God, what are you doing?" It seemed God was doing something as we began to sit down together around the table, but I wasn't quite sure what it was. The Pop-Up Dinners that we host as a ministry every other month are so different from each other. For instance, the previous dinner in August was a very lively group of guests, with all kinds of God-ordained connections being made around the table. It was crazy! And, this dinner in October, was no exception... it was different from all the rest of the dinners. Unique in its own. If you're not familiar with the Gathering Table Pop-Up Dinners, it is a table that seats between 10-20 people and brings people together from all different walks of life, including from different parts of the city, different jobs, backgrounds, and so on, to hear each other's stories. The goal is to build empathy among each other, and the purpose of these dinners is for the gospel to be boldly shared in a way that is natural - by sharing what Jesus has done in our lives. About a week after the October dinner, we met as a team to debrief and to share about what we have seen God doing through these dinners this year. What was cool is that by sharing collectively, our perspective of what he was doing was much bigger. Things that I didn't see, someone else did. For example, one person on our team shared about her best friend who came to the October dinner. She shared that her friend came to the dinner expressing that she didn't want to share her stories with a bunch of strangers, and yet she ended up doing just that. We learned that it was a big deal for her to share part of her story that night. And that there had been tension between her and her friend recently, and that it seemed after the dinner that the tension was gone. We also learned that one of the people who came to the dinner was not a believer, and that God was moving on her heart that night as she heard all the testimonies of God's goodness and mercy in real life stories. As we shared as a team of what we saw God doing, it became evident that God is always at work - he is never just doing one thing. The theme for the October dinner was "forgiveness". Many of the people at the dinner shared heart-breaking stories of being hurt or wronged by others. And at the end, we got to share the Good News of the gospel, that though we all fall short of the glory of God - sinners who have wronged God by disobeying his commands and law - that God sent his Son Jesus so that we can be forgiven. And because God has forgiven us, we can forgive others and find freedom in our relationships with others that can be found no where else. God is always at work - he is never just doing one thing. I was challenged personally after this dinner, to more and more have a posture of always asking, "God, what are you doing?" To always have one ear tuned to heaven. (I have a long ways to go to be walking in this!) And also, that our perspective grows so much more when we share with each other what we see God doing. You can be praying with us over the Pop-Up Dinners, especially for our team of people who have been helping Kristy and I lead this ministry. Our next dinner is planned for early December in Old Town Clovis. Pray that the Lord would bring who he wants to be at that dinner, and that he would help us to see and partner with what He is doing. If you are interested in coming to one of our upcoming Pop-Up Dinners, please feel free to check out our website and Reserve a Seat. It would be great to have you join us at the table to hear one another's stories, and see what God is doing through this ministry.