Since retiring I have been traveling a lot, attending a
different Episcopal Church almost every week. All of them have been places
where I am not known, so I walk in as a stranger. It has been wonderful to
experience the variations in worship, membership and energy in these churches
and I have always left feeling touched by God.
But it has left me thinking about how we welcome the stranger in our midst. It is something that I
focused on and preached about while I was a rector, but now it has an
additional meaning to me. Each week I am the stranger and I have an opportunity
to experience something of what a visitor might feel.
Why is it so important to think
about how the church welcomes strangers? Each person who walks through the door
of the church on a Sunday morning is there because they have been nudged by
God. Each one’s story is different. Some are there because they are lonely and
looking for a community to be a part of. Some are feeling a need to be of
service. Some have come because they are hurting and need to experience the
healing love of God.
If the church is to be an
expression of God’s love everyone in the church needs to honor and be
intentional about welcoming the stranger. Remember, that stranger may not be a
stranger for long. Perhaps your new best friends has just walked through the
door, all you need to do is say hello. Perhaps he or she is the Sunday School
teacher, or alto for the choir, that people have been praying for. Perhaps this
new person will revitalize the men’s group or help develop a brand new ministry
that will change the church. Each one who walks through the door of the church
brings unique gifts from God. If they do not feel welcome in your church, God
may lead them to one where they will be welcomed and appreciated.
On this page of my blog you will find thoughts and ideas about why it is so important to welcome people home and how any church community, no matter how welcoming they currently are can become even more welcoming to the stranger that God has sent to their door.
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