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Pastor Kent Hughes of College Church in Wheaton, Illinois, almost never preaches a topical sermon series. But shortly after the 9-11 attacks, he sensed the Spirit directing him to interrupt his study of Genesis to preach a 14-week series on pressing, current topics.

College Church's leadership knew issues like materialism, hedonism, marriage, and sexuality would generate questions. So after Hughes's sermons, ushers passed out note cards for people to write down those questions. The cards were collected, and the congregation was invited to return that evening to hear the answers.

As people were seated at round tables in the church's new fellowship hall (called "The Commons"), elder Harold Smith moderated a panel discussion including pastors and knowledgeable church leaders.

"We weren't sure how the church would respond to changing our Sunday night format," Smith said. "But by starting time that first night, the Commons was packed and people were waiting outside the door."

Following the panel's presentation, the people at the tables discussed the issue further using a guide created by the leadership team. A church leader or teacher was assigned to direct each table's talk. "We had senior adults, college students, down to elementary students writing in questions and interacting with the message," Smith said. "Those discussions brought the body together. It created a buzz that is still a part of College Church."

"Invariably," associate pastor Marc Maillefer said, "people lingered afterwards to continue discussions. Many have said how encouraging it is to converse with other believers who grapple with the same questions they have."

On subsequent evenings, the answer team opened the floor for questions. Smith assured participants, if they were nervous about speaking, "This is family talking."

Attendance for the fall series far surpassed that of the traditional Sunday night worship service, and the church repeated the table talk format in the spring after Hughes returned to his exposition of Genesis.

Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today International/Leadership Journal.
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