Community Dinner Offered to CU Students by United Methodist

Back in August, one of my friends introduced me to the Concord United Methodist Church and their dinner meetings. I wanted to make new friends and was curious about the church and the dinner meeting.  I was really nervous because it has been a long time since I went to church in Korea and I didn’t know much about Church things and Jesus. But after I participated in a meeting, I changed my mind. I realized that all of the people in this meeting were nice, and they welcomed me. I am so appreciative to the pastor, his wife Rachael, and my friends in church. So I wanted to introduce the Church and dinner meetings to other Concord University students.

    The pastor at Concord United Methodist Church’s name is David Johnston. He has been married for 5 years to Rachael Porter, and they have a big, friendly dog named Wendell.

David and Rachael moved to Athens July 1, 2016. They came to West Virginia because they believe God has called them to serve in this state. In the United Methodist Church, pastors are appointed to serve a church by a bishop. They do not choose the church, and the church does not interview and hire them. So they came to this town because his bishop sent them here, but they are glad to be here.

 He became a minister in response to God’s call on his life to serve. He heard this call while a college student at Louisiana State University. Initially, he wanted to be an engineer or mathematician, but thankfully the gospel of Jesus Christ wrecked all those plans. He was part of a Christian student community that saw the gifts and graces in him to serve as a minister and helped him to hear this call. One day his campus pastor asked him a question that changed the direction of his life: “Have you ever considered a call to ministry?” He loves walking alongside college students because of the real, honest questions they ask and because they are figuring out their lives. He hopes to build the kind of community that does for students here what his community did for him: hear God’s call is their lives. He says that God calls us to all sorts of vocations, not just ministry. The kingdom of God needs doctors, teachers, lawyers, programmers, and even people who get a little too excited about spreadsheets.

    David and Rachael host dinner meetings every Tuesday at 6:30 pm at his house near the church. There, students can have a good meal. It reminds of me having meals with my own friends and family. After we have a meal, we have desserts and chat about our daily lives, dreams, thoughts, and more. If the weather is good, we go outside and have a small campfire. David and Rachel have students to their home for dinner as a way to meet people and share lives. Their hope is that out of these simple gatherings for dinner that they can create a community that connects people to Jesus. He hopes that the community will be a place students come to hear what God is calling them to do. They dream of a Christian community where all people are truly welcome, people of every race, nation, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, and socio-economic station. They think dinner would be a good place to start because Jesus spent so much time around dinner tables.

    David said that “I really enjoy meeting students, especially over coffee or a meal. I’m always up for a conversation and enjoy listening as much as talking. But I’d also want to say sorry to each and every student who has ever been hurt or denigrated by a church. The Bible teaches that each and every person is made in the image of God, so if a church has ever denied that image in you or made you feel worthless, I apologize”.