
A Bigger Table (Expanded Edition with Study Guide)
Building Messy, Authentic, and Hopeful Spiritual Community
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $17.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Adam Verner
About this listen
A Bigger Table invites listeners to envision a church that is big enough for everyone, by holding up a mirror to the modern church and speaking clearly on issues at the heart of the Christian community: LGBT inclusion, gender equality, racial tensions, global concerns, and theological shifts. John Pavlovitz shares moving personal stories, his careful observations as a pastor, and his understanding of the ancient stories of Jesus to set the table for a new, positive, more loving conversation on these and other important matters of faith. Though there are many who would remove chairs and whittle down the guest list, we can build the bigger table Jesus imagined, practicing radical hospitality, total authenticity, messy diversity, and agenda-free community.
This new edition includes a small-group study guide complete with ideas for exploring A Bigger Table in a congregation-wide sermon series and program along with a new foreword by Jacqui Lewis and new afterword by the author to explore the challenges of living out the bigger table when voices of hate and exclusion seem stronger and louder than ever.
©2020 John Pavlovitz (P)2021 Mission AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
If God Is Love, Don't Be a Jerk
- Finding a Faith That Makes Us Better Humans
- By: John Pavlovitz
- Narrated by: John Pavlovitz
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Pavlovitz examines the bedrock ideas of our religion: the existence of hell, the utility of prayer, the way we treat LGBTQ people, the value of anger, and other doctrines to help all of us take a good, honest look at how the beliefs we hold can shape our relationships with God and our fellow humans - and to make sure that love has the last, loudest word.
-
-
If God is Love why is this author a jerk
- By Amazon Customer on 12-11-21
By: John Pavlovitz
-
Hope and Other Superpowers
- A Life-Affirming, Love-Defending, Butt-Kicking, World-Saving Manifesto
- By: John Pavlovitz
- Narrated by: John Pavlovitz
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pastor John Pavlovitz has become a voice and a beacon of hope for progressives around the world. His popular and beloved blog, Stuff That Needs to Be Said, offers almost daily inspiration and insight into the state of affairs in the world and expertly captures the emotional zeitgeist; the angst, rage, fear, and despair that are the “new normal” for so many people. In the face of the hand-wringing helplessness we often feel, John offers the antidote: a practical and inspirational guide to transforming your burdens into dreams and your outrage into activism.
-
-
Like a balm for my soul
- By Jerri on 11-08-18
By: John Pavlovitz
-
Do I Stay Christian?
- A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned
- By: Brian D. McLaren
- Narrated by: Brian D. McLaren
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Do I Stay Christian? addresses in public the powerful question that surprising numbers of people—including pastors, priests, and other religious leaders—are asking in private. Picking up where Faith After Doubt leaves off, Do I Stay Christian? is not McLaren's attempt to persuade Christians to dig in their heels or run for the exit. Instead, he combines his own experience with that of thousands of people who have confided in him over the years to help readers make a responsible, honest, ethical decision about their religious identity.
-
-
Stunning
- By pslwallace on 06-30-23
By: Brian D. McLaren
-
Wholehearted Faith
- By: Rachel Held Evans, Jeff Chu
- Narrated by: Daniel Jonce Evans, Jeff Chu, Jamie Wright, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rachel Held Evans is widely recognized for her theologically astute, profoundly honest, and beautifully personal books, which have guided, instructed, edified, and shaped Christians as they seek to live out a just and loving faith. At the time of her tragic death in 2019, Rachel was working on a new book about wholeheartedness. With the help of her close friend and author Jeff Chu, that work-in-progress has been woven together with some of her other unpublished writings into a rich collection of essays.
-
-
Orthodox but Boundary Pushing
- By Anyone on 11-14-21
By: Rachel Held Evans, and others
-
Jesus and John Wayne
- How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation
- By: Kristin Kobes du Mez
- Narrated by: Suzie Althens
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How did a libertine who lacks even the most basic knowledge of the Christian faith win 81 percent of the white evangelical vote in 2016? And why have white evangelicals become a presidential reprobate's staunchest supporters? Jesus and John Wayne is a sweeping account of the last 75 years of white evangelicalism, showing how American evangelicals have worked for decades to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism.
-
-
Like reading a history of my evangelical life
- By Renee on 10-15-20
-
Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again
- By: Rachel Held Evans
- Narrated by: Rachel Held Evans
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If the Bible isn’t a science book or an instruction manual, then what is it? What do people mean when they say the Bible is inspired? When Rachel Held Evans found herself asking these questions, she began a quest to better understand what the Bible is and how it is meant to be read. What she discovered changed her—and it will change you too.
Drawing on the best in recent scholarship and using her well-honed literary expertise, Evans examines some of our favorite Bible stories and possible interpretations, retelling them through memoir, original poetry, short stories, soliloquies, and even a short screenplay. Undaunted by the Bible’s most difficult passages, Evans wrestles through the process of doubting, imagining, and debating Scripture’s mysteries. The Bible, she discovers, is not a static work but is a living, breathing, captivating, and confounding book that is able to equip us to join God’s loving and redemptive work in the world.
-
-
Hermeneutics for people that don't use the word
- By Adam Shields on 06-14-18
-
If God Is Love, Don't Be a Jerk
- Finding a Faith That Makes Us Better Humans
- By: John Pavlovitz
- Narrated by: John Pavlovitz
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Pavlovitz examines the bedrock ideas of our religion: the existence of hell, the utility of prayer, the way we treat LGBTQ people, the value of anger, and other doctrines to help all of us take a good, honest look at how the beliefs we hold can shape our relationships with God and our fellow humans - and to make sure that love has the last, loudest word.
-
-
If God is Love why is this author a jerk
- By Amazon Customer on 12-11-21
By: John Pavlovitz
-
Hope and Other Superpowers
- A Life-Affirming, Love-Defending, Butt-Kicking, World-Saving Manifesto
- By: John Pavlovitz
- Narrated by: John Pavlovitz
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pastor John Pavlovitz has become a voice and a beacon of hope for progressives around the world. His popular and beloved blog, Stuff That Needs to Be Said, offers almost daily inspiration and insight into the state of affairs in the world and expertly captures the emotional zeitgeist; the angst, rage, fear, and despair that are the “new normal” for so many people. In the face of the hand-wringing helplessness we often feel, John offers the antidote: a practical and inspirational guide to transforming your burdens into dreams and your outrage into activism.
-
-
Like a balm for my soul
- By Jerri on 11-08-18
By: John Pavlovitz
-
Do I Stay Christian?
- A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned
- By: Brian D. McLaren
- Narrated by: Brian D. McLaren
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Do I Stay Christian? addresses in public the powerful question that surprising numbers of people—including pastors, priests, and other religious leaders—are asking in private. Picking up where Faith After Doubt leaves off, Do I Stay Christian? is not McLaren's attempt to persuade Christians to dig in their heels or run for the exit. Instead, he combines his own experience with that of thousands of people who have confided in him over the years to help readers make a responsible, honest, ethical decision about their religious identity.
-
-
Stunning
- By pslwallace on 06-30-23
By: Brian D. McLaren
-
Wholehearted Faith
- By: Rachel Held Evans, Jeff Chu
- Narrated by: Daniel Jonce Evans, Jeff Chu, Jamie Wright, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rachel Held Evans is widely recognized for her theologically astute, profoundly honest, and beautifully personal books, which have guided, instructed, edified, and shaped Christians as they seek to live out a just and loving faith. At the time of her tragic death in 2019, Rachel was working on a new book about wholeheartedness. With the help of her close friend and author Jeff Chu, that work-in-progress has been woven together with some of her other unpublished writings into a rich collection of essays.
-
-
Orthodox but Boundary Pushing
- By Anyone on 11-14-21
By: Rachel Held Evans, and others
-
Jesus and John Wayne
- How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation
- By: Kristin Kobes du Mez
- Narrated by: Suzie Althens
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How did a libertine who lacks even the most basic knowledge of the Christian faith win 81 percent of the white evangelical vote in 2016? And why have white evangelicals become a presidential reprobate's staunchest supporters? Jesus and John Wayne is a sweeping account of the last 75 years of white evangelicalism, showing how American evangelicals have worked for decades to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism.
-
-
Like reading a history of my evangelical life
- By Renee on 10-15-20
-
Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again
- By: Rachel Held Evans
- Narrated by: Rachel Held Evans
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If the Bible isn’t a science book or an instruction manual, then what is it? What do people mean when they say the Bible is inspired? When Rachel Held Evans found herself asking these questions, she began a quest to better understand what the Bible is and how it is meant to be read. What she discovered changed her—and it will change you too.
Drawing on the best in recent scholarship and using her well-honed literary expertise, Evans examines some of our favorite Bible stories and possible interpretations, retelling them through memoir, original poetry, short stories, soliloquies, and even a short screenplay. Undaunted by the Bible’s most difficult passages, Evans wrestles through the process of doubting, imagining, and debating Scripture’s mysteries. The Bible, she discovers, is not a static work but is a living, breathing, captivating, and confounding book that is able to equip us to join God’s loving and redemptive work in the world.
-
-
Hermeneutics for people that don't use the word
- By Adam Shields on 06-14-18
-
The Universal Christ
- How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope for, and Believe
- By: Richard Rohr
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his decades as a globally recognized teacher, Richard Rohr has helped millions realize what is at stake in matters of faith and spirituality. Yet Rohr has never written on the most perennially talked about topic in Christianity: Jesus. Most know who Jesus was, but who was Christ? Drawing on scripture, history, and spiritual practice, Rohr articulates a transformative view of Jesus Christ as a portrait of God’s constant, unfolding work in the world.
-
-
Off the Reservation
- By Amazon Customer on 07-04-19
By: Richard Rohr
-
Changing Our Mind
- Definitive Edition of the Landmark Call for Inclusion of LGBT Christians with Response to Critics
- By: David P. Gushee
- Narrated by: David P. Gushee
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Changing Our Mind has helped thousands of families and congregations carefully and compassionately rethink traditional religious teachings about full LGBTQ inclusion. With growing scientific evidence, our wider society has taken big steps, but too many religious families and communities have not kept up. Dr. David Gushee offers a powerful, inspiring message of hope and healing by helping Christians to return to Bible study, prayer, and reflection in a way that creates a vision for a more inclusive church.
-
-
So grateful for this book
- By Sheryl Murphy on 12-08-22
By: David P. Gushee
-
Faith After Doubt
- Why Your Beliefs Stopped Working and What to Do About It
- By: Brian D. McLaren
- Narrated by: Brian D. McLaren
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sixty-five million adults in the US have dropped out of active church attendance, and about 2.7 million more are leaving every year. Faith After Doubt is for the millions of people around the world who feel that their faith is falling apart. Using his own story and the stories of a diverse group of struggling believers, Brian D. McLaren, a former pastor and now an author, speaker, and activist, shows how old assumptions are being challenged in nearly every area of human life, not just theology and spirituality.
-
-
Ok book
- By James on 05-13-21
By: Brian D. McLaren
-
The Color of Compromise
- The Truth About the American Church’s Complicity in Racism
- By: Jemar Tisby
- Narrated by: Jemar Tisby, Justin Henry - foreword
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Color of Compromise takes listeners on a historical journey: from America's early colonial days through slavery and the Civil War, covering the tragedy of Jim Crow laws and the victories of the Civil Rights era, to today's Black Lives Matter movement. Author Jemar Tisby reveals the obvious - and the far more subtle - ways the American church has compromised what the Bible teaches about human dignity and equality.
-
-
A Challenging Review to Write
- By Maximus on 02-19-19
By: Jemar Tisby
-
UnClobber
- Rethinking Our Misuse of the Bible on Homosexuality
- By: Colby Martin, Glennon Doyle Melton - foreword
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
UnClobber reexamines what the Bible says (and does not say) about homosexuality in such a way that breathes fresh life into outdated and inaccurate assumptions and interpretations.
-
-
The author's human nature gets in way of the book
- By Tony Woodcock on 11-28-20
By: Colby Martin, and others
-
Affirming
- A Memoir of Faith, Sexuality, and Staying in the Church
- By: Sally Gary
- Narrated by: Sally Gary
- Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is it like to discover that something you’ve believed all your life might be wrong? Sally Gary knew since her early adulthood that she was attracted to women. But as a devoted Christian, she felt there was no way to fully embrace this aspect of her identity while remaining faithful. Now, as she prepares to marry the love of her life, she’s ready to speak out about why - and how - her perspective changed.
-
-
Incredible Story
- By Larry on 03-22-21
By: Sally Gary
-
Searching for Sunday
- Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church
- By: Rachel Held Evans
- Narrated by: Rachel Held Evans
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like millions of her millennial peers, Rachel Held Evans didn't want to go to church anymore. The hypocrisy, the politics, the gargantuan building budgets, the scandals - church culture seemed so far removed from Jesus. Yet despite her cynicism and misgivings, something kept drawing her back. And so she set out on a journey to understand the Church and to find her place in it.
-
-
Don't bother
- By Andi Andrzjewski on 12-05-16
-
Faith Unraveled
- How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask Questions
- By: Rachel Held Evans, Sarah Bessey
- Narrated by: Rachel Held Evans
- Length: 4 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From New York Times best-selling author Rachel Held Evans: a must-listen for anyone on the journey of doubt, deconstruction, and ultimately faith reborn. Eighty years after the Scopes Monkey Trial made a spectacle of Christian fundamentalism and brought national attention to her hometown, Rachel Held Evans faced a trial of her own when she began to have doubts about her faith. Rachel recounts growing up in a culture obsessed with apologetics, struggling as her own faith unraveled one unexpected question at a time.
-
-
Recharging my faith
- By nitasue11 on 09-07-20
By: Rachel Held Evans, and others
-
Love Wins
- A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived
- By: Rob Bell
- Narrated by: Rob Bell
- Length: 3 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Millions of Christians have struggled with how to reconcile God's love and God's judgment: Has God created billions of people over thousands of years only to select a few to go to heaven and everyone else to suffer forever in hell? Is this acceptable to God? How is this "good news"? Author, pastor, and innovative teacher Rob Bell presents a deeply biblical vision for rediscovering a richer, grander, truer, and more spiritually satisfying way of understanding heaven, hell, God, Jesus, salvation, and repentance.
-
-
Gosh! WHAT WAS all the fuss about??
- By Israel on 04-11-11
By: Rob Bell
-
Love Is the Way
- Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times
- By: Bishop Michael Curry, Sara Grace
- Narrated by: Bishop Michael Curry
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Much of the world met Bishop Curry when he delivered his sermon on the redemptive power of love at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle. Here, he expands on his message of hope in an inspirational road map for living the way of love, illuminated with moving lessons from his own life. Through the prism of his faith, ancestry, and personal journey, Love Is the Way shows us how America came this far and, more important, how to go a whole lot further.
-
-
Hopeful and grateful
- By Amazon Customer on 10-11-20
By: Bishop Michael Curry, and others
-
WayMaker
- Finding the Way to the Life You’ve Always Dreamed Of
- By: Ann Voskamp
- Narrated by: Ann Voskamp
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s true: heartache, grief, suffering, and obstacles—they all come in waves. There is no controlling life’s storms; there is only learning the way to walk through the waves. In WayMaker, bestselling author Ann Voskamp hands us a map that makes meaning of life and shows the way through to the places we’ve only dreamed of reaching. In the face of suffering through seemingly unbearable situations, we can rest in the fact that we are not alone. In her signature captivating poetic style, Ann reveals how God is present in the totality of our lives.
-
-
powerful Truth
- By Shelley W on 03-19-22
By: Ann Voskamp
-
Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools
- An Invitation to the Wonder and Mystery of Prayer
- By: Tyler Staton, Tim Mackie - foreword
- Narrated by: Tyler Staton, Tim Mackie
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Prayer is the source of Jesus's most astonishing miracles and the subject of Jesus's most audacious promises, and yet, people find prayer to be boring, obligatory, or confusing. Join Tyler Staton, author, pastor, and national director of the 24/7 Prayer movement, as he invites you to discover the incredible gift of prayer.
-
-
Vital enrichment to go higher up and deeper in.
- By D.W. Ross on 06-28-23
By: Tyler Staton, and others
What listeners say about A Bigger Table (Expanded Edition with Study Guide)
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gini Behrendt
- 03-20-25
Most grateful.
I had my doubts that such a minister as you existed. I am so grateful that you do. Had I met you when I was young, I can easily see myself following and growing with your mentorship. I have developed my own spirituality outside of the formal
Church and have a very strong relationship with God. Nature is a good teacher. Thank you for writing this book. I found this book after finding you on Substack this year, February 2025. I’m indeed grateful.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- L Brown
- 07-12-24
What I needed t hear
I kept seeing in my mind the acceptance of diversity in our culture. We have a long way to go, but I vow I’m going to do my part with the time I have left. I’ve been so worried about our country’s future with the upcoming election. This book gave me courage to be more outspoken about the bigotry and cruelty I hear.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 09-05-24
Incredible
This is a must read for anyone who feels like we (Christians, denominations, and churches) must do better to love and include everyone. We are called to reflect Christ’s love in the world. He does such an incredible job at speaking what’s in my heart.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jake Warner
- 11-02-21
I loved the content, but found the narration was flat
I love the author’s perspective, and look forward to the day when his vision of Christianity is the rule and not the exception. Unfortunately, however, the narration was quite flat and and lacked energy (especially after the preface). It definitely brought the listening experience down. I give 5 stars for content, but 2 stars for narration.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ross and Daisie Ferretti
- 04-23-23
Christians, it's worthy of the read
Loved it! I love the brutal honesty John writes. I've struggled with my christianity and feeling like I was being brainwashed. I realized that's a lie and that I can love a god who loves me without conditions.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!