How Gathering at the Table Helped Renew Church Leaders in South Texas

Faith & Leadership

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Faith & Leadershp | May 27, 2025

When I was growing up, the table in my kitchen was the heart of our home. It is where we ate, worked, talked and prayed. I was drawn to it — even when I had other spaces set aside — because it connected me to my family’s life: the sound of my mom’s piano students, the rhythm of people coming and going and the moments of spontaneous, meaningful conversation.

Around that table, I learned to listen, reflect and discern. I discovered the sacred in the ordinary and found courage to take my next faithful step. That same pull toward the table followed me into ministry. Theologically, we affirm this in the sacrament of Holy Communion: We gather at the table, receive grace and go into the world renewed. In every form, the table remains a place of transformation.

After years of pandemic isolation and amid the disaffiliation debates that divided many congregations, I realized how much we needed to sit together again. Across the Rio Texas Conference, I heard stories of grief, loss and disorientation. Leaders felt depleted.

I began to wonder: How are ministry leaders doing? What is sustaining them? What is the state of their spirit?

In response, I hosted seven in-person gatherings — one in each district across South Texas — over two months. These two-hour sessions took place in fellowship halls and meeting rooms and were open to clergy and laity, paid staff and volunteers passionate about discipleship and faith formation. Group sizes ranged from six to 30. I came to listen and learn.

Each gathering followed a simple rhythm:

  • Share celebrations
  • Name challenges
  • Exchange favorite resources
  • Reflect on values

Using “wondering questions,” I invited participants to engage in deep conversation at their tables while an assigned scribe captured their group’s insights in a notebook. After each round of discussion, scribes shared one important insight with the larger group. Then the notebook was passed to another person at the table, and I asked the next question. Conversation continued, layer by layer, story by story.

As leaders responded to this guided reflection, I witnessed what Brené Brown calls “rumbling with vulnerability” in her book “Dare to Lead.” Brown refers to rumbling as “a commitment to lean into vulnerability, to stay curious and generous, to stick with the messy middle of the problem identification and solving, to take a break and circle back when necessary, to be fearless in owning our parts … to listen with the same passion with which we want to be heard.”

Around these tables, participants talked about the hard things — families not showing up, burned-out volunteers, shrinking resources — with raw honesty. They also expressed a deep passion for ministry, an expansive love for their people, bold hope for what might be possible and a sense of sacred purpose.

These conversations helped me realize that tasks don’t sustain leaders — values do. In the wake of COVID-19 and disaffiliation, I saw that clearly.

So I asked: What values are guiding your commitment to this work? As they reflected, leaders talked about what mattered to them. Three values emerged across the gatherings:

  • Community and connection, because relationships are the foundation of discipleship
  • Love, because God’s love shapes identity and belonging
  • Faith formation: because growing in love of God and neighbor is a lifelong journey shared across generations

These were not abstract ideals. They were anchors that sustained leaders through challenge and guided their steps. Leaders stay in the work not because it is easy, but because they are grounded in what matters most.

Through this guided conversation, participants began to identify the values that were honored (when they shared celebrations) and the ones getting stepped on (when they named their challenges.)

One person said, “I get frustrated when no one volunteers, but I want kids to know they are loved and belong.” What seemed like a logistical problem — lack of volunteers — was a clash of values. When connection, love and faith formation are at the heart of ministry, lack of support feels personal.

Articulating those core values opened new possibilities. Participants began to see how aligning ministry with what truly matters — and inviting others to share in that purpose — could inspire deeper engagement and more transformative work. One person said, “If I can help people in my congregation understand the value of their participation in children and youth ministry, they will not be able to say no.”

This shift — from task (filling volunteer roles) to purpose (inviting people into the spiritual care of others) — sparked fresh energy. Participants stopped asking, “Who can I recruit?” and started asking, “Who can I invite into shared purpose?”

That clarity then led to a deeper conversation about trust, which is created when values are named, shared and honored in the community. When people know their values are respected, they risk more — speaking honestly, stepping forward with courage and living more fully into their call.

As leaders spoke, encouraged one another and imagined new possibilities, I could feel the Spirit moving. One person said, “I want my church to understand they are a necessary part of the body of Christ.” Another added, “Small groups are not just a program — they’re how we shape lives.”

Wanting to honor the moment, I quietly passed around blank notecards and invited participants to write words of encouragement for the folks in the room. At closing, I read those notes aloud as part of a prayer and blessing. My heart was strangely warmed — and I believe theirs were too.

In these two-hour gatherings, I saw daring leaders rise. They led with curiosity, leaned into vulnerability and created a courageous space for honest conversation. These practices helped the group gain clarity, realign with their values and recommit to God’s transforming work.

At the heart of it all is a call to claim what matters, create space where trust can grow, and move forward with others, guided by grace and grounded in purpose.

So now what?

After reviewing the notebooks with their stories, prayers and reflections, I continue to pray for every leader who came to the table. I’ve shared the insights with participants and leadership across the conference, and we are discerning how to best use the wisdom gathered to join in ministry together.

I encourage others to try their own gatherings as they discern their next faithful step:

  • Gather: Come to the table. Remember, you are not alone. Find your people.
  • Rumble: Lean into your vulnerability. Be honest about your challenges. Get curious. Ask, “God, what are you showing me here?”
  • Align: Name what matters. Invite others who share your values to help discern your next steps as you live them out in your community and the world.
  • Encourage: Pray and bless one another.

When we gather at the table, we look forward, not back. We celebrate, remember, and begin again, asking, “God, what are you calling us to do next?”

So go ahead: Set a table, light a candle, ask a wondering question, and trust that when we gather in Christ’s name with courage and curiosity, God shows up.

The Rev. Dr. Tanya Campen is an ordained deacon and serves as the director of intergenerational ministries in the Rio Texas Annual Conference in the United Methodist Church. Previously she served in roles as a Christian educator, youth director and minister to children and families in local churches.

This article was first published in Faith & Leadership.