2001
D. David Clemons
The Commensality of Jesus Christ and Congregational Development: The Recovery of the Dynamism of Jesus’ Table Fellowship in the Modern Church for a Local Congregation
Commensality (table fellowship) is the theme and this opus traces the development of certain feeding programs in a parish with special attention to one for high school students called the Munch Bunch which has had some unforeseen and particularly positive results. The commensality of Jesus and the early Church is then explored, five characteristics of his commensal ministry discovered and defined, and a comparison made between the commensality of Jesus and that of the Munch Bunch. The author’s thesis is that modern forms of Christian commensality which any congregation can undertake have the potential of tapping into the dynamism of Jesus’ commensality as a sign of the inbreaking of God’s reign.