Hospitality and welcome
In recent weeks my kitchen has been rebuilt from scratch. The old cupboards which were falling apart and rotten in places came out in double quick time and the room was bare plaster and floorboards, and almost unrecognisable.
Then the builders took a wall out to create a new cupboard, replaced the ceiling and slowly (very slowly) the new room took shape. During the nearly six weeks I was without cooking facilities I was invited to out to have meals with friends very frequently, sometimes three or four nights of the week. I was touched by the generosity and hospitality. Some people invited me on several occasions, latterly I think, taking pity on me as the job dragged on and on without good reason.
Now I have moved back in and the kitchen looks wonderful and functions really well. What a relief! But also I have an autumn to look forward to of inviting my friends round to supper.
The Biblical understanding of hospitality and welcome extends to strangers and outcasts, and
Ferry or folly?
A thought for our beleaguered dairy farmers. Here is the mini- tanker taking the milk from the Norwegian island of Orta (population c.16) by ferry to the island of Finnøye, where it is transferred to a larger tanker for onward transportation. The question as to whether it is profitable simply doesn’t seem to occur to anyone…
Stephen Cope Rural Theology Association
people who we would not normally count amongst our friends. Hospitality is taken very seriously and a great deal of trouble gone to in order to provide food and shelter. This is still the case in developing countries. However, hospitality is not just about welcome and food but a genuine desire the engage with the person and what they are bringing to the encounter be it as a friend for dinner, a tourist or a someone who needs help. The Good Samaritan did not check to see if it was friend of his who was hurt but offered care and hospitality without question to someone who could have been considered to be an enemy.
The theme of hospitality runs right through this edition of Country Way. Our rural communities and their churches can be welcoming. They can also feel closed off and exclusive. We examine the theology of hospitality and explore how this can be extended to local communities, those from overseas and others who are struggling with life. Tourism is an important part of hospitality – often the term
‘hospitality industry’ is sometimes used to describe hotels and restaurants. No doubt all of us have experiences of a warm welcome in some places and poor service elsewhere. How welcoming is your church or community?
Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan in response to the question: who is my neighbour? Who is your neighbour? Who in our churches and communities is excluded? Is it the casual visitor, the loner or the person in trouble? Offering hospitality is not an option but an act of essential service. Jesus the servant welcomed and blessed the child, the leper and the outcast without question. We should do the same.
Jill Hopkinson, Editor
www.arthurrankcentre.org.uk
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editorial
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