The Biggest Table

In this episode of The Biggest Table, I speak with Kendall Vanderslice, a baker, writer, speaker, and founder of the Edible Theology Project. Kendall shares her journey into bread making and how it connects to her spirituality and faith. She discusses her early influences, the historical and theological significance of bread, and the idea of baking as a form of prayer. We explore the commercializa...

In this episode of 'The Biggest Table,' I enjoy a rich conversation with author Lore Wilbert about her latest book, 'The Understory.' The discussion delves into themes of nature, grief, and presence, as Lore shares her personal journey of finding comfort and healing in the forest. She elucidates how the forest's regenerative processes paralleled her own experiences with faith and personal hardship...

In this episode of The Biggest Table, host Andrew Camp welcomes longtime friends from Park City, Utah, Nyesha, Tanisha, and Sharon, who run 11 Hauz, a Jamaican restaurant. They discuss their journey from Brooklyn to Utah, their Jamaican roots, and the rich confluence of cultures that define Jamaican cuisine. The conversation also delves into the family’s deep faith, the humble and resourceful upbr...

In this episode of 'The Biggest Table,' hosted by Andrew Camp, culinary historian Michael Twitty shares insights into how food serves as a medium for exploring cultural identity, heritage, and spirituality. Twitty, the creator of the blog Afroculinaria and author of award-winning books like 'The Cooking Gene' and 'Kosher Soul,' delves into his journey of connecting African American and Jewish food...

In this episode of The Biggest Table, hosted by Andrew Camp, guest Amy Dolan discusses the intersection of food, faith, and community. Amy, who hosts the Feeding People podcast and founded Sunday Supper Church, shares her journey through the traditions of a Jewish and Christian upbringing, how cooking became a creative outlet during her ministry, and her work advocating for food equity in Chicago....

In this episode of The Biggest Table, host Andrew Camp is joined by Derrick Weston, a community organizer, theological education and training coordinator for Creation Justice Ministries, and co-author of The Just Kitchen. They discuss the intersection of food, faith, and social justice, highlighting the significance of food in experiencing God's love and addressing food insecurity. Derrick shares...

In this episode of The Biggest Table, host Andrew Camp explores the intersection of food, wine, hospitality, and spirituality with guest Adam McHugh. McHugh, a former Presbyterian minister turned wine tour guide and sommelier, discusses his transformative journey into the wine industry, chronicled in his memoir 'Blood from a Stone'. They delve into the significance of the Santa Ynez Valley's wine...

In this episode of The Biggest Table, host Andrew Camp engages in a profound discussion with Gisela, a theologian and writer with deep roots in Christian spirituality and a passion for exploring the holistic embodiment of spirituality through creation. Focused on her experiences growing up in a family-owned winery in Germany and how it shaped her view on work, community, and spirituality, Gisela u...

In this episode of The Biggest Table, host Andrew Camp discusses with Andy Root, a professor of Youth and Family Ministry, the intersection of faith, hospitality, and our secular age. Root elaborates on his six-volume series, 'Ministry in a Secular Age,' emphasizing the challenges and opportunities for experiencing God in the modern world, particularly through the lens of Charles Taylor's philosop...

Join me in my conversation with Richard Beck. We explore the themes of hospitality, hope, and enchantment in Christian practice. From embracing marginalized individuals with grace to recovering an enchanted faith in a skeptical age, the conversation delves into the significance of ordinary moments, like sharing meals, in cultivating a sense of wonder and community. Richard Beck is an author and pr...

In this episode I have a rich conversation with Chris Smith. We cover a range of topics, starting with his own personal journey of food over the past ten years. But we spend the majority of our time using a couple of Chris’s books, namely Slow Church and How the Body of Christ Talks , to dialogue about the importance of conversation for the health of ourselves and our community. Through recovering...

Being an election year, there will be calls for civility, especially in Christian circles. But Kathy Khang (and her coauthor Matt) believe that Christians are not called to be civil, but rather through the fruit of the Spirit embrace the discomfort and hard work of loving disagreement. Listen in as Kathy and I have a rich conversation about the fruit of the Spirit and its call on Jesus followers t...

In this episode, I am joined by the owner and founder of Wild Goose Coffee, Nate Westwick. We talk about coffee a lot, but more than just coffee, we talk about why coffee is important for communities, and how coffee might help us pay attention to the world around us. We also talk about Nate’s new book, Clearing the Path , and his journey as an author. Nathan Westwick is the owner and founder of Wi...

A chance encounter with a gentleman back in 2008, while he and his church were cleaning and restoring a cemetery, sent Chris questioning how and why he did church, In 2018 he began to find answers to these questions when he started a garden. Since 2018, Chris has sought to fight food insecurity in his zipcode in Knoxville, seeking to transform a food desert into a food oasis through Battlefield Fa...

In this episode, I am joined by my friend from graduate school, Jen Manglos. Jen leads people as a pilgrimage guide, having walked all or parts of the Camino de Santiago multiple times. Jen shares how being a pilgrim has shaped her view of food and hospitality, while also sharing ways in which she has grown in embracing her own embodiedness and limitations. Through walking as a pilgrim she reveals...

Food occupies a central place and sometimes disproportionate place in our lives. Researchers have noted that we make over 200 food choices a day, many without much deliberation.  And so whether our thoughts about food center around having too little or too much, whether we have a distorted view of food or a healthy view of food, food and eating is something we all have to partake in in order to su...

In this episode, I turn the hosting duties over to my friend Peter Englert, as he interviews me. This is a chance for you to get to know me and my journey with food from daily dinners with the family to meals shared in China to my relationship with Grandpa to cooking professionally. As I reflect on my journey with Peter, I begin to see cooking as a way that I experience God's delight in me. It has...

In this episode I talk with my good friend Monica Romig-Green, and her journey with food, starting with her family to sharing meals with her good friend Mike. After, we talk ministry, food, and being with people. Monica was born and raised in Southern California and fell in love with Canada after living in Toronto in the early 2010s.  She was ordained as a transitional deacon in June 2023 and is d...

In this episode, I have a conversation with Alex Mandes, who has worked extensively with churches to help them embrace the multi-cultural reality all around them. We especially focus on the nature of meals within Latino culture (which is naturally diverse in and of itself), while also talking about Jesus on the margins.   Alex Mandes is a leader within the multicultural churches. He has worked wit...

In this episode, I talk with Michael Frost, author and international speaker, who has written extensively on the mission of the church and how the church might move forward in today's culture. He shares his insight into meals and how they shaped the early church, and how we might recover that today.   Check out his newest book Mission Is the Shape of Water , a fascinating look at the history of th...

In this inaugural episode of The Biggest Table, I am joined by my good friend, Ty Hoad. Ty recounts his own journey with food and unreasonable expectations he put on people. We also look back at the meals we have shared together, including peach donuts, white truffle risotto, and smoked Waygu short ribs.