October 20, 2023

Hospitality

I think of our church as being a very hospitable community. The fact that people have literally walked in off the street and found this church to be their faith community speaks to that. Thank you all for being generous with your welcome.

That being said, there are a number of people who come into our worship services that leave without being greeted or welcomed in any way. Sitting where I sit when the postlude begins, I have seen a good number of people leave before I have gone down the aisle. Some of them have returned, though many of them have not. I wonder how many may have returned if they had been welcomed before they left? We may never know.

At this point our church has no game plan on how to welcome our visitors. Our Church Council is working on this issue now. However, at our last council meeting we identified some low hanging fruit. The reason we have people slip out without acknowledgement is that we have a practice of not leaving our seats until after the Postlude. We wonder if this is hindering our welcome. Instead, if you should see someone sitting near to you who is a visitor, or at least unknown to you, why not stand up and greet them as soon as the Postlude starts. Anyone who wishes may listen to the Postlude as they like, but I would encourage you not to feel compelled to do so. Those who are looking for a church home may not be familiar with our practice of sitting through the Postlude, and this lack of familiarity may encourage some of our visitors to simply leave.

Beginning this Sunday, I encourage you to consider the Postlude a time begin to dismiss, the way many or most of our visitors do. This simple act of hospitality may be a first step in being an even more gracious and welcoming community.

Thank you for considering this act of hospitality.

~ Pastor Todd