Interview with Elder Adam Weiss
As one of the founding members of Table of Life, Adam Weiss reflects on the early days of the church plant and the unique character it's taken on. In this interview, he shares how the church’s familial culture, unconventional structure, and growing pains have shaped his experience and hopes for the future.
How has your experience at Table of Life been unique?
This has been my first experience doing church outside or in a home – not in a traditional church building. Table of Life is also more like a family than other church experiences I’ve had. It’s like a summer cookout or – even better – Thanksgiving dinner: someone organizes everything, everyone contributes a dish, one or two people clean up. You just do things for each other; the analogy would be grabbing an extra chair without having to ask.
Another way Table of Life is unique is in its leadership. Every church is run differently simply because of who’s in charge. For example, Calvary had a different feel to it – not good or bad, just different – when Pastor Burd was the lead pastor versus now, when Paul is in that role. And now, with a new church under new leadership – namely, Zach’s – it’s interesting to see how his style of leadership shapes and will continue to shape the church as it grows.
What difficulties have you faced so far, and what difficulties do you anticipate in the future?
First, we are learning to be on our own. We are at the beginning of our church planting journey. We feel a little like a child on their own for the first time. We are quickly growing into our own self and figuring out life without support.
Another struggle is that Table of Life is structured differently from other churches that we’ve been part of, so it’s hard to know what’s best for this new church. Our reactions to difficulties are based on our previous experiences of church and don’t always work in our new context.
Could you share any stories that explain what Table of Life is?
Table of Life is seen when Leah trusts someone to take care of her kids so she can have a conversation, without being stressed. Table of Life is heard when people sing loudly in a park, and a man cutting his grass across the street stops to listen. Table of Life is lived out when an elderly man asks the woman on the couch next to him to open his drink while they hear the Word of God preached.
Adam Weiss has been part of Table of LIfe since the very beginning. As an elder at Calvary, he was among the first to commit to the church plant when Pastor Paul Wilson first mentioned the idea, and when Zach stepped forward to lead it.
Adam says that the vision for the new church was “misty at first”. Calvary Baptist Church’s elder board knew they were called to plant but did not know how, where, or who to send. The vision became clearer when God began to call the team. Zach’s years leading Calvary’s student ministry, which included one-on-one conversations, small groups, and large-group gatherings, began to shape the vision for Table of Life. As members joined Table of Life, what made it unique was its familial shape. Gatherings remind Adam of summer cookouts or Thanksgiving dinner; someone organizes the gathering, everyone contributes a dish, and one or two people clean up. “You just do things for each other”; the analogy would be grabbing an extra chair without having to ask.
Table of Life is feeling the early growing pains of being on its own. Now that the new church is out from under Calvary’s wing, Adam says that it feels like a child or a puppy learning to be its own entity. As Table of Life is notably different from other churches that Adam and others have been involved with, he’s aware that his framework for how to respond to various obstacles needs to shift. As they are a new church, they have to learn new ways to do church.
