This is a workshop given by Harold Percy at the Vital Church Planting Conference 2012.
Length: 1h:11m
[podcast]http://institute.wycliffecollege.ca/resources/B1 Culture of Mission.mp3[/podcast]Welcoming
It’s Christmas. And all bets are off.
The days of the neighbourhood dropping in for Church just because it’s Christmas are over. Here’s how your church can move into the neighbourhood instead.
For centuries, the Advent/Christmas seasons have been a time for folks to automatically come into Church, perhaps for
the only time in a year. However, in this post-Christendom, and some would argue post-Christian age, all bets are off. The days of expectation that people will naturally come into events in our churches simply because it is Christmas, are rapidly dwindling. This is not an urban, suburban, or rural issue. This is not a church size or denominational issue. This is the new normal of every local church in our increasingly secularized age.
It is not a time for despair. In fact, it is an exciting season of opportunity and hope for those in Christian leadership who are willing to fully engage the challenges of our day. In Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of the magisterial Prologue in John’s gospel that is read every Christmas, we get a glimpse into the missional heart of the Incarnation:
The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish. (Jn. 1:14, The Message by Eugene Peterson)
God moves into our neighbourhood. We have an opportunity to step back and re-think all we intend, practice and believe about our engagement with Advent/Christmas and with our culture. In whatever way your Church makes decisions, I am going to suggest that we gather, and consider six fundamentals of Advent/Christmas planning, before we look at some practical applications.
Ditch the complaining about the hyper-consumerism of our culture or the lack of religious practice in our society. We follow the One who not only is the Word made flesh, but also the One who breaks the back of death, evil and our sin by his atoning work on the Cross. Our world needs the good news of the Gospel as we share our hope that is grounded in the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ — the Gospel imperative.
Who needs to be part of this conversation? How can the conversation be expanded to include those not typically in the decision-making process? Engage those who only come at Christmas. Talk to those in your community who do not attend at all. Ask your youth and young adults about their expectations and experiences of what the Church can be and do at Christmastide.
Consider every aspect of your Advent and Christmas practices. Ask yourself the simple but exceptionally difficult question—why? Why do we do what we do during Advent and Christmas? Are these events aligned with the gospel imperatives of the Incarnation?
Consider what it will mean to engage your community this Christmas, versus expecting your community to engage your church events.
Think through when your Advent and Christmas events are held. Are attendance patterns changing? Do we need to change our event times to engage more people more effectively?
Where is the best expression of the Advent and Christmas season? Would it be more beneficial to change locales, to actually ‘move into the neighbourhood’ instead of offering events at our local church building?
These six elements of re-thinking and re-framing our understanding and practices of Advent/Christmas in our churches is the hard work of Christian leadership. You will find very quickly that “Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous patience.” (Hyman Rickover)
Historic methodologies and practices feel good to us, but do they connect the Gospel and our culture? If we have done our homework, and prayerfully thought through these six fundamentals, then we might be surprised by the need for the church’s historic gospel tradition, versus our own local traditionalism. In the context of your local community, remember theologian Jaroslav Pelikan’s famous dictum: “Traditionalism is the dead religion of the living. Tradition is the living religion of the dead.”
At St. Paul’s, as we have sought to consider these Advent/Christmas planning fundamentals, we have discovered some simple and effective things to engage and connect with the communities we serve. We are a work in progress, always trying to pray and think through what, why and how we are doing and being the Church.
Here are some things to think about for the Advent/Christmas seasons:
Advertise early and widely with the message that you want to engage with your community, not simply get them into church at this time of year.
Use social media to get the message out. Even if you have no experience or are personally wary – seek out those who regularly use Facebook or Twitter and learn. The cost of your usual advertising -—newspaper, flyers etc. – is increasing while their effectiveness is diminishing.
Undertake a prayer ministry to pray for your visitors, for your events, for gospel proclamation.
Ensure one clear theme in the music, preaching, and prayers so that your message is coherent, concise and consistent.
Through the Advent/Christmas seasons, place the incarnation in the context of the whole of salvation history. For example, a traditional Lessons and Carols service embodies the great sweep of Creation, Rebellion, Israel, Jesus, Still Being Written and The End.
In preaching, beware of the urge to bury people in scriptural volume. Do not overestimate the biblical literacy of our culture or our church communities. Just because you know the implications of the incarnation, do not assume everyone does.
Beware of the urge to find new meaning in the old text. Allow the Gospel and the text to shape your preaching.
But do preach! Please do not offer a Christmas devotional or read someone else’ thoughts. This is a prime opportunity for you to connect the biblical story with your community in an authentic and meaningful way.
Offer an evangelistic, relationship-based program that people can sign up for immediately, on the spot that will begin right after Christmas. Use Alpha or Christianity Explored. We use Christianity 101 (C101), which for us starts first thing in the New Year.
Put your best foot forward with preaching, liturgy, music, and hospitality. Think of the famous title of Oswald Chamber’s daily devotional book—My Utmost for His Highest. To offer your best to the Lord Jesus is to do just that, offer your best. Whether we like it or not, people are used to high quality production values and they expect your practice to be aligned with our message that the Gospel is the most important good news in the world.
Consider giving your visitors a small and inexpensive gift that explains Christmas, such as Nicky Gumbel’s “Why Christmas?”
Work to reframe your understanding of Advent as much more than a liturgical season. Be a community that truly seeks to reshape yourselves and society’s worldview from one of consumption to one of compassion. The Advent Conspiracy (adventconspiracy.org) is a brilliant resource to highlight, particularly at this time of year, that you are blessed solely to be a blessing to others.
Offer opportunities to serve at Christmastide. Perhaps you might offer a Christmas dinner to those who are alone at
this time of year. You might encourage everyone in your church to offer one hour to your local food bank or one hour to visit a nursing home. Even the smallest churches will have an impact. To engage your community means to serve your community in some capacity, particularly at this time of year.
Throw a party. If you have a children’s or family service, build a festive venue with cupcakes and balloons. Visitors and their children relate to a birthday party for Jesus. For your Christmas services, provide opportunities to build relationships (not just a coffee hour), where your faith community can genuinely engage the community by not only serving, but also simply having fun.
We live in a changing world and this time of year can be a season of challenge and over-extension. With Advent and Christmas—we have been given an opportunity to connect with our world. As Christopher Wright wrote in The Mission of God:
It is not so much the case that God has a mission for his church in the world, as that God has a church for his mission in the world. Mission was not made for the church; the church was made for mission—God’s mission.
As church, we are made for such a time as this. We are made for God’s mission, which is to proclaim in word and deed the reality that “the Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood.
Barry Parker is rector of St.Paul’s Anglican Church, Bloor St., Toronto. Check out their website —and how St.Paul’s is presenting Christmas to their community— at www.stpaulsbloor.org
Online and On Message: one way to write a church website with impact
This summer, my wife and I spent some time in the UK. One day, we checked online for churches to visit that Sunday, and found one that seemed very lively. I clicked on the “staff” page. There I found an impressive number of staff, both full and part-time, but I confess I was baffled by the list of their qualifications. Some were “OLM,” others “LLM,” some were “with PTO.” One was “retired NSM with PTO,” and another “LLM (formerly Reader) with PTO.” We did in fact worship at that church on the Sunday, and found it a wonderfully energetic and faith-full community. But my experience with the website was a sobering reminder that the first contact many people will have with our churches is online. We need to design our websites with “outsiders” in mind so that the first impression is not off-putting, and in fact, invites visitors not only to our church but to our faith.
In particular, I believe we need an explanation of the Gospel upfront on our websites. Many church websites describe their community as “family-oriented,” “inclusive,” “kid-friendly,” “a welcoming community,” and so on. Most go further and say something about faith: “knowing Christ and making him known” is popular; “followers of Jesus” and “a faith-filled family” are phrases that crop up. Smart websites have a “Frequently asked questions” section, anticipating visitors’ questions like “What’s the dress code?” and “Do I have to belong to your denomination?” But I haven’t found many church websites with a section explicitly called, “Becoming a Christian.”
The church of which I am a member, St John the Evangelist in Hamilton (see www.rockonlocke.ca), recently added a section called just that, under the tab “New here?” (OK, I confess, it’s not a coincidence: I had something to do with it.) What follows is the text of that part of the website. Naturally, you don’t have to agree with every word of it. There is not enough about some things and probably too much about others. It’s intended as a taster, a teaser, meant to intrigue and attract. It is not a systematic theology. If you don’t like it, hopefully it will inspire you to write something better. But if you do like it, you are welcome to copy it or adapt it for your own church’s website.
Becoming a Christian
The simplest way to define a Christian is as “a follower of Jesus.” That means, someone who tries to learn from Jesus Christ what he has to teach about God, about life and how to live it, and about death and how to deal with it. In a sense, a Christian is a student of Jesus the Teacher.
If that is a Christian, then what is the church? Again, at its simplest, church is when followers of Jesus get together. Why do they get together? To learn more about how to follow Jesus, to pray together, and to encourage one another in their faith. In a sense, the church is the school of Jesus. And, in most churches, they also break bread and drink wine together (variously called the Mass, Communion, Eucharist, or Lord’s Supper) as Jesus told his followers to do. They also get together because one of the things Jesus taught was that God is interested not just in individuals living good lives, but in people learning to live as a diverse and harmonious community.
Another way to think of a Christian is as someone who has responded to the Good News—or Gospel—that Jesus taught. What is that Good News? It is about something he called “the Kingdom of God”—the state of affairs where things are done in the way the Creator intended. Jesus said that this Kingdom came into the world in a special way when God sent him into the world—in effect, that he was the King of this Kingdom
So what is the Good News of “the Kingdom”? That God in love has not given up on our world, with all its hurt and folly and wars. Rather, in spite of all appearances to the contrary, God is at work to put things to rights, to shape a world where all pain and self-centeredness is done away with. And God invites human beings everywhere to be part of this new thing he is doing in the world.
How do you become part of God’s work, part of God’s “kingdom”? That’s where becoming a follower of Jesus comes in. Why? Because it’s from Jesus that we learn most clearly what it means to work with God in this project of restoring the world. Jesus demonstrated the Kingdom himself—by the way he lived, but also by his brutal execution for our sins and by his miraculous coming back to life three days later—and he taught others how to walk that same road. And that’s why, if we want to work with the Creator in this amazing global restoration project, the best way to do it is in the school of Jesus.
How do you become a follower of Jesus, then? Jesus used two old-fashioned-sounding words to describe it: “repent” and “believe.” “Repent” means to turn away from one thing, and “believe” means to turn towards something else: a 180 degree change, as if we set off walking west and then turned right around and start heading east. Another word for turning around like this is conversion. For some people, that turning around is sudden, but for others it takes a long time.
So what does that journey in a new direction look like? As you might expect, it means a complete change of view. (After all, if you were heading west, you would have been walking towards the sunset; now, facing east, you’re heading towards the sunrise.) Before, it meant living my life as though it belonged to me. Now I realise that it is a gift from the Creator. Before, it meant setting the priorities of my life according to what I thought was important. Now it means learning what God’s priorities for my life are. Before, I could be as selfish as I wanted to be. Now I am learning to serve God and others. The changes are huge.
Does that sound difficult? Well, yes, Jesus never said it would be easy: he was very clear that in some ways it would feel like a death, and any experienced Christian will tell you that following him is often difficult. But the good news is that in following Jesus, you are actually learning to follow the Creator’s way, which means you’re learning to live your life with the grain of the universe, not against it. And in the end that means experiencing what Jesus called “life in all its fullness”—becoming the person that you were created to be, and doing what you were made to do—and in the company of the God who made you and who loves you.
If this sounds intriguing, come check us out one of these Sundays. As you can tell, becoming a Christian is a big thing—in fact, the biggest decision you could ever make—and nobody wants you to rush into it. Come see what church (this followers-of-Jesus-getting-together event) is like. How do they experience Christian faith? How do they handle the difficulties? What are the joys? How do they keep going? How do they experience the love of God? Listen in on their praying, their singing, their teaching, their conversation. They will welcome your eavesdropping!
And if, after a time, you decide that this is indeed what you want, talk to the minister about baptism. If being a Christian is being a student in the school of Jesus, getting baptized is the way you register in the school. It’s a public ceremony (you can’t be a private Christian) and involves you stating your desire to be a follower of Jesus. And the whole Christian community (your fellow students) is there to cheer you on, promising to support and encourage you in your new life.
Perhaps you were baptized as a baby, but have never really done anything about it. In that case, if you decide you want to be a follower of Jesus, there is something called “Re-affirmation of Baptismal Vows,” where you are not baptized again (that’s not necessary), but you take the promises that were made on your behalf as a baby and make them your own as a thoughtful adult choice. And that can be just as meaningful as baptism itself.
Do email us or phone if you would like more information. And, wherever you are at in your spiritual journey, we look forward to meeting you one of these Sundays.
***
The first step to revising your own church’s website just might be to check out the sites of other churches. What works? What doesn’t? Learn from the mistakes of others and be inspired by the ingenuity of those who do it well. And, in particular, let’s take the opportunity of this first contact with new people to say something about the Gospel
Hospitality is Always a Good Idea
Churches can transform themselves by practicing the ancient art of
hospitality
There’s a church near Wycliffe College in Toronto that I like to stroll by every once in a while to see if their “welcome” sign is still up. This is how it reads: “While on church grounds please abide by the following: Women should not dress in slacks. Women should have their head covered (kerchief or hat). Please do not talk during church services. EVERYONE WELCOME!”
The welcome message is dubious, I know. But it reminds me that Christians need to be sensitive, even vigilant, about how we come across to those who might be seeking a church community. Hospitality begins before people step foot inside the church door.
But how can a church become known as a hospitable, welcoming place to be?
It starts with an attitude from our heart. If we don’t have a heart that is open to strangers, no official signs, greeters or gimmicks will draw people into our congregations. When I moved from Vancouver to Winnipeg and was looking for a church, I tried an Anglican parish that had been recommended to me. Being unfamiliar with the practice of passing the peace, I was dismayed when those around me in the pews embraced and kissed their best friends and spouses, and I was left standing alone.
The church I eventually ended up at was full of people who acted as if they were genuinely happy I had come. “If you are treated warmly, welcomed, engaged, you do it to others too,” says the pastor of a non-denominational church in Edmonton. (There’s a fine line, of course, between being welcoming and overbearing. A welcoming church won’t pounce on a newcomer to join the choir or ask them to bake something for next week’s bazaar. Welcoming parishioners are gentle, not pushy, engaging but not nosy.)
Second, remember that hospitality is free. I’ve known churches that organize roast beef dinners and pancake breakfasts, charge admission and call it hospitality. It isn’t. It’s fundraising. Holding a welcome potluck brunch in September, with food provided by parishioners and an invitation sent around the neighbourhood in addition to personal invites to friends, is a better way to let the community know you care about them. If a meal seems daunting, try a fancy little Saturday afternoon tea party with no agenda other than to get to know people.
Hospitable churches go out of their way to meet the neighbours. They are not judgmental. They rarely evangelize, at least not in a traditional way, but people are drawn to their love and compassion. Hospitable churches are growing churches.
Third, hospitable churches seek practical ways of meeting the needs of newcomers or neighbours. A large Montreal church I know holds a back-to-school carnival in its parking lot, providing backpacks, school supplies and new clothing, along with burgers, clowns and face-painting, to low-income kids in the neighbourhood. (This can be done on a smaller scale, of course.) A small-town Ontario parish once hosted a free clothing depot, where families could come in and help themselves to anything they needed. A village church near Kingston regularly provides hot dogs, chilli and pizza to the students at the high school across the street. Other churches welcome the homeless through the Out of the Cold program, or get involved in breakfast or lunch programs at local schools.
There’s a difference, though, between just offering the physical food and actually being hospitable the way Jesus wants us to be. Remember the fish fry on the beach after the resurrection? Once the disciples had eaten, Jesus asked Peter pointedly, three times, “…do you love me?” and following on Peter’s affirmative, he pressed him some more: “Feed my sheep. Look after my lambs.” It’s the spiritual food – the spiritual hospitality – which concerned Jesus, just as much as meeting the physical needs.
Finally, there’s no place like a home. So many Canadians seem to have lost the practice of inviting people into their space. Yet a home is the place where we can truly extend ourselves to others. If you live in a community with a university, for example, there will be thousands of young people who are far away from home – many from other countries – who might easily feel lonely and isolated. Once your church has found its footing as a hospitable church, inviting newcomers into your homes is just a natural next step. Seniors, new Canadians, single parents – all are in need of warm hospitality.
First Lutheran, a church in Vancouver, was transformed over a period of years, first through providing low-income housing, then by welcoming refugees, and finally by offering sanctuary to a newer church member who was about to be deported. The older white people learned to embrace those who were different, and now the demographic of the church is not the same as it was 20 years ago. The older white people are still there, but they worship alongside former refugees from Africa, new Canadians and a one-time Russian spy.
“We found hospitality is not just greeting people at the door and inviting them to coffee after church,” says Pastor Richard Hergesheimer. “It’s a readiness to, and willingness to, and recognition that when you welcome people into your midst, you’re going to be changed. If you’re not ready to be changed,” he advises with a laugh, “try not to be too hospitable!”
Debra Fieguth is a writer in Kingston, Ont. Her book The Door is Open: Glimpses of Hospitality in the Kingdom of God, was published by Guardian Books. You can contact her at debra.fieguth@sympatico.ca
Will They Come Back Next Week? – The Challenge of Preaching at Christmas
Apparently, it’s just one of those long-standing Christmas traditions. More people will come to services this Christmas than at any other time of year. And the majority of those people will not come back for another 12 months. Is this inevitable? Do we simply shrug and accept it as a sad reality? Or is there something we can do to make those people think it might be worthwhile to come back sooner than next Christmas—maybe even next week?
Some of the answers are obvious, though not always easy: a genuinely welcoming community; liturgy that is done well; music that delights the ear and the heart; and quality refreshments afterwards, for a start. All those require the enthusiastic co-operation of the church community. But I want to address another component of the service that is primarily the responsibility of one person: the sermon.
How do we preach this Christmas in such a way that the hearers say, “Wow! That’s amazing. Maybe I need to come back and hear more,”—instead of, “Ah yes, the boring sermon. Another reason I gave up on church 20 years ago. I remember it so well.” Here are some modest suggestions:
1. Name people’s hang-ups—whether or not we share them
Many people outside the Church assume that church folk do not think like them, and certainly don’t understand the doubts and reservations they experience around church stuff. To name those things helps people relax: “Wow, the preacher knows how I think, and seems to think it’s normal!”
What should we name? Here are just a few:
*Difficulties with the historicity of the story: “Many of us have a hard time believing things happened just the way they’re described in the story.”
*Difficulties with adult belief: “We think the Christmas story is OK for kids, but not for adults.”
*Difficulties with church: “Many people have had bad experiences with church, and that’s deeply sad.”
*Difficulties with the incarnation: “To say ‘he came down to earth from heaven’ makes it sound as though Jesus was an alien being visiting from another planet.”
*Difficulties with faith: Mark Twain said, “Faith is believing what you know ain’t true.”
Of course, we can go on to address whatever the problem is, but we need to start by naming it as a legitimate concern. Otherwise the hearers are always thinking, “Ah, but if you knew my particular questions, my doubts, my experience, you’d understand why I’m not here more often.” If we can disarm those reservations, it increases the likelihood that our hearers can hear the good news.
2. Speak from the heart—and take time to find it
John Stott says somewhere that, although he loved to preach the atonement and did so frequently, he was careful not to use clichés in doing do. Each time, he would seek to be personally reminded of the reality of the cross, and to find fresh ways of talking about it that would engage both him and his hearers.
The same is true for the incarnation (and, I suppose, ideally for all Christian truth). I would suggest that our sermon preparation is not complete until we ourselves have been touched afresh by the reality of God become a human being, until we feel the utter goodness of the Good News, and our sermon-in-the-making is more than words. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,” says Jesus. Let’s make sure our hearts are full to overflowing before we speak. People recognise authenticity—and they recognise when we are just saying the words without feeling them.
3. Avoid theological jargon
C.S.Lewis says there is a place for in-house technical language in every profession or social group. We can’t manage without it: it can be precise and efficient. Once we step outside that specialised community, however, our language has to change. In particular, explanations tend to take far longer. Lewis suggests that most in-house words require 10 everyday words in order to explain them. He adds that if your job is to communicate with outsiders—especially in the name of Christ—then suck it up (I paraphrase): take that extra time, and don’t grudge it; use those 10 words (unfamiliar though they may be), and don’t look for short cuts. For example:
*Talk about “the author writing himself into the script of the play” rather than “the incarnation”—this is a C.S.Lewis analogy (10 words instead of two)
*Talk about “Matthew’s biography of Jesus” rather than “the Gospel of Matthew”—it’s not obvious to an unchurched person what “a Gospel” is
*Talk about “the story” rather than “the text” or “the narrative.” Avoid academic terms—unless your congregation attracts a lot of university folk, of course.
This kind of translation is actually a good discipline for us. Apart from anything else, it’s what missionaries have always done.
4. Do something surprising—even if it’s outside our comfort zone
We live in a multi-media age. Sadly (for those of us over a certain age at least), words alone seldom stick in the memory. Our sermon is far more likely to be remembered and discussed over Christmas lunch if it is more than words. Why not consider things like:
*Having a roving microphone in the congregation. Ask questions that invite a one- or two-word answer. “What comes to your mind when you think of Christmas?” is simple and sure to get people involved. Don’t ask for stories or you might never get your microphone back.
*Preaching from the aisle rather than the pulpit. People in the Western hemisphere feel (perhaps since the 60s) that informal equals sincere, and formal equals inauthentic. There is really no rational basis for it, but it’s worth remembering.
*Having a new Christian say (briefly) how his or her view of Christmas has changed. A personal story from an “amateur” can carry more weight than the views of the “professional.”
*Including a short dramatic sketch on the subject of the sermon. (As I write this, I remember one such at Trinity Anglican Church in Streetsville (Ontario), over 10 years ago. Even now I find it moving.)
*If you have the technology, showing an appropriate video clip. The website textweek.com has a tab called “movie index,” which offers lots of good ideas.
And if some of these suggestions seem somehow beneath our dignity, let’s remember that this is after all the festival of the humiliation of the Word.
5. Show how the Gospel makes a difference
Postmodern people don’t care whether Christianity is true, but they are interested to know whether it works. It’s a legitimate question. After all, it is “by their fruits”—not by their compelling arguments—that “you will know them.”
So how might it affect our hearers’ lives if they believed that God really became a human being? How might the most amazing event in history cause them to see the world differently? How might they treat their spouse, their colleagues, their in-laws, their neighbours, differently? How might leisure or work or sex seem different? How might life be more joyful? And, to be honest, how might life be more difficult? (There is always a cost to believing).
Of course, it will help if we can say too how the incarnation (forgive the technical term) has changed—and is changing—the way we and our congregation live.
Sacramental preaching
Preaching at Christmas is a challenge, but one worthy of the season. After all, if we believe that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” the sermon can be a sacrament of that same Incarnation—not just talking about God, but by our preaching giving the hearers a taste of the God who enters our world, who participates in our language and our culture, who speaks to us “right where we are,” to affirm us and challenge us at the depths of our being.
Whether our guests actually come back the week after Christmas is their responsibility before God, not ours. Our responsibility is to be faithful in representing the Gospel as best we can—and then to leave the rest to the God who loves them enough to come to earth for them.
Hospitality from the Inside Out
In recent years, many of us, in churches large and small, have taken an in-depth look at what we are doing to welcome people. We want to make sure that our children’s areas are clean, bright and cheerful, that the bathrooms are spotless, that the church is comfortable, that our Sunday greeters are out in the parking lot to help people as they arrive. We want to ensure that our worship service is accessible, that directions within the church are obvious so that folks can find their way, and that our outside signage is visible and welcoming. We want to be very certain that our coffee is amazing, and that our savories and sweets are so awesome people will come back for more. We also encourage members of our congregations to be aware of any newcomers and not to leave them alone holding up the wall during coffee hour.
It’s a lot that we ask of our congregations, especially when our budgets are stretched, and our people’s own personal day timers are packed, even on a Sunday.
A common scene in church kitchens on a Sunday, once the coffee hour is over, food is put away, dishes are done and the wardens are locking up, is that someone will say “Well, that’s done for another week.” But is it? Is that it? Is that hospitality?
Yes, it is hospitality-and if we have done even some of these things we have done well, we have “packaged” our church and presented it very well to newcomers and visitors.
But what happens when the packaging comes off? What is going on inside our respective churches? This is the tough question to ask of ourselves, because the hospitality of the Kingdom going on within the church community, between brothers and sisters in Christ, is what is truly vital to the health of the church. This inside hospitality is essential if we want to sustain our outward hospitality of welcoming people into our midst.
For me, this is all about the hospitality of Jesus. It continually awes me that we–you and I–have the privilege of offering and sharing the hospitality of Jesus with one another within our church families.
When we look at Bible, we see over and over again that Jesus had the extraordinary ability to meet people exactly where they were at, he met them in their doing, he met them in their interests, he met them in those things that were on their hearts. He welcomed people as they were. He not only welcomed people into conversation, but he welcomed them into his time, he welcomed them into his full attention. He welcomed those who came to him to share in his life and invited them into the Kingdom of God.
What’s more, Jesus, at the same time that he was extending his hospitality to others, was himself completely open to the hospitality of God and the power of the Holy Spirit in him.
How are we offering this same hospitality of Jesus to one another within our congregations? Here are some questions I invite you to ponder with me:
1. What is a newcomer? While we think of a newcomer as someone who is new to our church, may we also think of a “newcomer” as an existing parishioner who is coming into the church in a new way? They may be recently widowed, have lost their job, be newly married, have a new baby. Life circumstances can change the way we know ourselves and are known. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we want to be sensitive to this “newcomer” and to meet them in their new place. I have heard from so many people who have become separated in marriage that they felt their most uncomfortable and marginalized when they came to church, their own church, the church they had attended for years. Why is that?
2. Hospitality is vital within the various ministries of our church as well. Welcoming existing members of the congregation into new positions of leadership, the Choir, ACW, Sunday School team, or into small home groups is not always as graciously extended as we might wish. Yet within a community that follows the way of our Lord, encouraging, equipping and empowering each other to be all that God created each of us to be is a huge part of what we are about.
3. Think for a moment about the generations that exist within our church families. God willing, we are dealing with a least four generations and in some cases even five. Church is the only place outside of the family unit where the generations gather on a regular basis. What is the hospitality like between the generations? I have had the joy of experiencing one warm and wonderful woman who happily took it upon herself to position herself in the main entrance hall each Sunday in order to greet the church family as they arrived. What was remarkable about her ministry was the way in which she greeted each young person. They felt valued and welcomed. It was heart warming to see the little ones come up the walk way with anticipation and as soon as they would see her waiting for them, their little faces would light up. She was, and still is, always there for them.
4. How transparent is the leadership team? There is something uncomfortable about being a member of a church family and not knowing what’s going on-as if you are not important. Inside hospitality is about inclusiveness. While we are thinking about transparency, how easily would a member of our congregations, or any of us for that matter, be able to articulate the core values, purpose and vision of our church? How well have we as leaders communicated what we know so well?
5. I wonder too sometimes about the hospitality that we, as a church, extend to the Holy Spirit. I’m sure that sounds odd, yet I believe the question is valid. I had the joy of hearing the “Himig Singers” last spring. A great song that they performed for us was called “You ain’t got church til the Holy Spirit shows Up”.
Recently, I was involved in a Bible Study on the Book of Acts. We came to the word “favor”, a word which Luke uses in reference to Mary, to Jesus, and to the early community. It is a beautiful word and captures the significance of hospitality of Jesus. The word favor, according to my Strong’s Concordance, means “divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life” The hospitality of Jesus in us is the divine influence upon our hearts which is then reflected in our lives, both individually and communally.
In the Book of Acts (2:47 ), it is this grace from God, this “favor” that attracted others to the early church community daily. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, these early Christians extended to each other their willingness to be together, to come to table together, to learn together, to share, to love and to serve each other. And this willingness is the hospitality of Jesus, “hospitality inside”, if you like.
For the individual soul, this inside hospitality assures us that we are valued, that we are beloved, that we belong. It gives us confidence in who we are as children of God. It also gives us confidence in our own church family.
If the hospitality of Jesus is appropriated into the very heartbeat of our congregations, the natural outpouring of this will then flow outside of ourselves into our lives in the world. It becomes natural and normal for us to be Kingdom hosts, inviting others to come and see, to come and share in the way of Jesus and the Kingdom. We are able to extend this hospitality to others because we are confident about what it is that we are inviting them into.
And that’s hospitality from the inside out.
Your Church Can Thrive
Percy helps congregations answer tough, critical, and strategic questions about their ministry and mission. How do we serve the member in the pew, the casual visitor, family and friends of the congregants, and the neighbourhood beyond? These are where connections that build healthy congregations are make and nurtured.
This book can be purchased at your local Christian bookseller or online here
Good news people: An introduction to evangelism for tongue-tied Christians
- Good News People
What is evangelism? Why is it important? This book shows how congregations and individuals can join in this essential and joyful ministry. A study guide helps readers to reflect on their own experience and share effectively in the work of evangelism.
This book can be purchased at your local Christian bookseller or online at here
