This podcast is an avenue to dialogue about the totality of the food experience. Everything from gardening, to preparing, to eating, to hospitality, to the Lord’s Table, with an eye toward how this act that we all have to engage in helps us experience the transformative power of God’s love and what it means to be human.
Host Andrew Camp interviews Ian Simkins, lead pastor of The Bridge Church near Nashville and author of “Every Table an Altar,” about how food and tables form people and reveal God’s heart. Simkins describes being raised as the oldest of seven in a home marked by biblical hospitality, then explores how first-century table fellowship signaled power and exclusion, making Jesus’ frequent, often subversive table practices—eating with “those people” while not cutting off Pharisees—statements about the Kingdom. They discuss modern screen-driven isolation, the table as an antidote that fosters curiosity and in-person connection, and practical ways families and churches can build formative rhythms. They address communion’s past-present-future meaning, misconceptions about “unworthy” participation, and hospitality as philoxenia rather than entertainment, including justice, sacrifice, and feeding the hungry.
Ian Simkins is the lead pastor of The Bridge Church just outside Nashville, Tennessee and the author of Every Table an Altar (https://www.amazon.com/Every-Table-Altar-Reclaiming-Distraction/dp/0310370868/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2YIOOHQYU5UOG&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.kpKNwh0rQloVSaNEVrW0xrpwn2SLGY8ysmEwEYpGkB0.abFEAir-VBL28qrzoP26gOjY_RqHW5fAatV9OrRZuoQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=every+table+an+altar+ian+simkins&qid=1792431421&sprefix=every+table+an%2Caps%2C419&sr=8-1) (Zondervan). He and his wife, Katie, have three boys who keep their home incredibly loud and their table beautifully full.
Follow Ian Simkins:
Instagram - @iansimkins (https://www.instagram.com/iansimkins/)
Website - iansimkins.com (https://iansimkins.com/)
Every Table an Altar Book - everytableanaltar.com (https://iansimkins.com/every-table-an-altar)
Follow Andrew Camp
Facebook: andrew.camp.9 (https://www.facebook.com/andrew.camp.9)
Instagram: @andrewcamp80 (https://www.instagram.com/andrewcamp80/)
Substack: @thebiggesttable (https://substack.com/@thebiggesttable)
This episode of the Biggest Table is brought to you in part by Wild Goose Coffee. Since 2008, Wild Goose has sought to build better communities through coffee. For our listeners, Wild Goose is offering a special promotion of 20% off a one time order using the code TABLE at checkout. To learn more and to order coffee, please visit wildgoosecoffee.com (https://www.wildgoosecoffee.com/).
(00:00) - Welcome and Ian’s Story
(02:56) - Jesus and Subversive Tables
(15:09) - Communion and Real Hospitality
(32:33) - Unearthing God at Work
(33:47) - Becoming Guests and Hosts
(46:47) - Sacrifice and Hunger Justice
6 Oct 2026
Feast Days & The Biggest Table with Mark Grapengater and Andrew Camp
Andrew Camp (The Biggest Table) and Mark Grapengater (Feast Days) introduce a collaboration episode about food, hospitality, and the table as a place to experience God’s love. They share how both attended seminary and worked in fine dining, then recount their personal journeys: Mark’s interest in cooking grew in seminary and was shaped by a formative Chicago fine-dining experience, while Andrew’s lifelong family table practices deepened through ministry in China, Eugene Peterson’s writing on Jesus’ table fellowship, and meals with his grandfather, eventually leading to his podcast and training work. They discuss failure and repair in kitchens versus churches, the need for grace, and the table as counterformative to busy American life, consumerism, and “empire” metrics, emphasizing lingering, presence, and being both host and guest. They also talk about wine, travel, and practical rhythms like menu planning and family meals, and share where to find their ministries and podcasts online.
Follow Mark Grapengater:
The Table Denver - thetabledenver.org (https://thetabledenver.org/)
At the Table Project - the-table-project.org (https://www.the-table-project.org/)
Substack - thetableproject.substack (https://thetableproject.substack.com/),
Feast Days Podcast - wherever you find your podcasts
Follow Andrew Camp
Facebook: andrew.camp.9 (https://www.facebook.com/andrew.camp.9)
Instagram: @andrewcamp80 (https://www.instagram.com/andrewcamp80/)
Substack: @thebiggesttable (https://substack.com/@thebiggesttable)
This episode of the Biggest Table is brought to you in part by Wild Goose Coffee. Since 2008, Wild Goose has sought to build better communities through coffee. For our listeners, Wild Goose is offering a special promotion of 20% off a one time order using the code TABLE at checkout. To learn more and to order coffee, please visit wildgoosecoffee.com (https://www.wildgoosecoffee.com/).
(00:00) - Meet the Hosts
(09:41) - Table as Formation
(34:43) - Kids Cooking and Hosting
(36:38) - Table as Counterculture
(01:07:35) - Food Memory and Hospitality
(01:20:46) - Wine Journeys and Wrap Up
22 Sept 2026
The Friendly Confines of Friendship with Andy Littleton
Host Andrew Camp welcomes Andy Littleton to “The Biggest Table” to discuss friendship, grief, and hospitality as places to experience God’s love. Littleton shares losing his best friend Sam 20 years ago in a car accident and how it shaped his longing and questions about friendship. Encouraged to write about it during the relational strain of 2020–2021, he organized a 2025 road trip in Sam’s 1971 Volkswagen from Tucson to Wrigley Field with friends old and new, resulting in a manuscript titled “2,000 Miles to Wrigley.” The trip included reconnection and deeper understanding with friend Sean, insights about power dynamics and differentiation in friendships, and “resonance” versus control (influenced by Andrew Root and Hartmut Rosa). At the game, shared, shoulder-to-shoulder experiences fostered new bonds, and a dramatic Cubs win felt like a gift. Littleton argues friendship grows through simple shared activities (even hot-dog-making) and calls the church to take relational risks and tell stories of repair.
Andy Littleton has lived in Tucson most of his life and has been in ministry since he was 18 years old. He’s worked and studied in many diverse ministry contexts throughout the years. Andy currently works for Mission Church, Resonate Global Mission, and Calvin Theological Seminary where he loves to teach and invest in the lives of leaders. He is married to Michaela, a nurse, musician, and animal lover, and has a daughter named Abby who is a “kid whisperer.” You can find his book projects and other content he shares from time to time on his personal site.
Follow Andy Littleton:
Personal Website - https://andylittleton.com/ (https://andylittleton.com/)
Project Patreon - www.patreon.com/c/AndyLittleton (http://www.patreon.com/c/AndyLittleton)
Church site - www.missionchurchtucson.com (http://www.missionchurchtucson.com/)
Infuse - www.infusetucson.com (http://www.infusetucson.com/)
Insta: @2000milestowrigley + @alittlemission + @andygramz
facebook - https://www.facebook.com/andy.littleton.16 (https://www.facebook.com/andy.littleton.16) + https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572270103861 (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572270103861)
Medium - https://medium.com/@andy_66884 (https://medium.com/@andy_66884)
Follow Andrew Camp
Facebook: andrew.camp.9 (https://www.facebook.com/andrew.camp.9)
Instagram: @andrewcamp80 (https://www.instagram.com/andrewcamp80/)
Substack: @thebiggesttable (https://substack.com/@thebiggesttable)
This episode of the Biggest Table is brought to you in part by Wild Goose Coffee. Since 2008, Wild Goose has sought to build better communities through coffee. For our listeners, Wild Goose is offering a special promotion of 20% off a one time order using the code TABLE at checkout. To learn more and to order coffee, please visit wildgoosecoffee.com (https://www.wildgoosecoffee.com/).
(00:00) - Meet Andy Littleton
(02:12) - Loss, Grief, and the Wrigley Idea
(10:22) - Road Trip Resonance at Wrigley
(37:10) - Towing Trouble Unexpected Gift
(42:19) - Shoulder To Shoulder Friendship
(51:31) - Church Repair And Food Wrap
Who has been a guest on The Biggest Table
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Michael Shaikh
Joash Thomas
Paul Schutz
Naeem Fazal
Ethan Amos
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