Practicing Our “Welcomes You” Slogan
How welcoming are we as congregations? Really? I don’t mean how do we welcome one another. I mean, how well do we welcome the stranger. The Rev. Scott Gunn offers a helpful perspective on this in a column Practicing Our Slogan. As an Episcopal priest who is not in parish ministry, Gunn has been going around experiencing hospitality from the opposite perspective. He writes:
“Here’s a recent experience: I arrive 10-15 minutes before the service. As I enter the narthex, I see the usher engaged in conversation with a parishioner. The usher is clutching a pile of service leaflets. No problem, I’ll just grab one off a table and take myself to a pew. No dice. The only leaflets are held by the talking usher. I walk toward him, waiting for him to pause. He glances at me: “Oh, you need a program?” in a not particularly friendly tone. “Yes, please. Thank you.” Without a further glance or a word, he shoves a leaflet my direction and continues the conversation. Welcome to the Episcopal Church.
“In that same church, I make my way to a pew. A few folks cast friendly-ish looks my direction. Good. I pray. When it’s time for the service to start, I note that the clergy in procession are not singing. Instead, they are smiling and nodding at people they know in the congregation. None of the clergy does the same for me. I stand out. Literally. 6′ 6″.”
He makes four very good recommendations in this article, including “Teach Benedict’s rule: ‘Let all guests who come be received as Christ.’ One congregation I know proudly invites guests to sit in its best pew. “George Washington sat here, and we would like you to have our best seat.”
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He ends the article with two more things to do: 1) Offer a warm greeting to the next guest you find in your congregation, and 2) Go enjoy someone else’s hospitality – or lack therof – and learn from it.
The full text is worth a read and is online here: Practicing Our Slogan.
The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon to the Ordinary
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