‘Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, whatever the color of your skin, whomever you love or marry, or whatever your feelings about religion or spirituality, you are welcome here.’
—Welcome statement, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Chicago
tioned in that area again. But if we were snowbirds, we would’ve sought out a different church. As someone uncomfortable with small-talk chitchat with strangers, the feeling of invisibility was very strong for me. My more social husband felt it too. “What their behavior said to us was they were a
Jennifer Pierre (in blue) shakes hands during Sunday worship at Our Saviour, which implemented a welcom- ing ministry that saved it from being closed.
no one-size-fits-all approach to welcoming—one person’s wel- come is another person’s wall. Congregations, Smith said,
would be smart to embrace the cultural norms of 2016, including the needs of young people and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgen-
tight-knit church family, and they didn’t want strangers there. No wonder the congregation was so small and seemed so warm when observing from the pew. It was aſterward when we wanted to compliment the congre- gation for the nice service that we realized the warmth was not for outsiders.”
It’s complicated “Welcoming” is a complicated and emotional chal- lenge that isn’t problematic only to the ELCA, said the church’s pastors who were interviewed for this story. Tey define a welcoming ministry as being inclusive and mindful of a congregation’s identity, recognizing mem- bers’ giſts and understanding what they are comfortable with, acknowledging the neighborhood, and assessing the needs of those to be welcomed. Pastors said there’s
der (LGBT) community, the use of technology, people’s busy schedules and the fact that the church isn’t the cen- ter of life anymore. People oſten “church shop” and make judgments based on what they initially see and feel. “People are looking for three things in a church,”
Smith said. “One, a warm community that loves and fol- lows Jesus; two, a place where they can learn something; and three, a church that is doing something to trans- form the world. Sometimes we’re woefully inadequate in all three.” For shy or introverted people, an overly friendly
greeting or coffee hour can be off-putting or cliquish. An extended sharing of the peace—where members walk around the sanctuary hugging people and chitchat- ting—might appear friendly to some newcomers and uncomfortable to others. Craig Mueller, a pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran,
an urban Chicago church, is sensitive to the needs of newcomers and runs what he calls a general welcom- ing program, inclusive of both introvert and extrovert personalities and communication styles. “What I’m finding these days in organized religion is
that the welcome is the main thing connecting people,” Mueller said. “All churches say, ‘You are welcome,’ but part of that welcome is whoever you love or marry is welcome, too, and whatever you may think of church or organized religion, you are welcome.” Holy Trinity has a long history of welcoming the
LGBT community. Mueller said that (along with other factors) has helped create a welcoming and healthy church atmosphere. Mueller said church today is just different: “We oſten have a church full of people we don’t know. Our demo-
Christine Curl (left), Irma Mulder and Faye Phillips partake in treats and coffee during “Sunday morning hospitality” at Messiah, which views food as a universal language and offers coffee and doughnuts every week. Some churches have no coffee hour because they view it as too overwhelming for visitors.
16
www.thelutheran.org
KRISTA KENNELL
DAVE NAGEL
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52