‘Immanuel Lutheran Church is a Reconciling in Christ
congregation. We welcome people of every age and size, color and culture,
graphic is a community of young adults that pops in and out with- out being known. We want to give people the feeling that they can come and go on their own terms and give people their space. Tey need to know that they won’t be asked to be on a committee.” Tis can be a problem for small Protestant congre-
every sexual orientation and gender identity, socioeconomic status
Jim Harter, with Carmen Pease, holds up the sign for the new welcome center at Messiah.
In Jamaica, N.Y., the
gations where members act like family, Mueller said. But this is the technology era, he added, where young people are used to communicating behind a screen, texting or emailing. “A greater issue is ambivalence to organized religion,”
Mueller said. “Tey value church but not in the way that we’re used to. Given that, we need to do church in new ways since we’re not the center of people’s lives.” It’s OK, he added, to not know everyone in the con-
gregation and to not greet them by name. Paula Swaim, who recently began attending Shep-
herd of Life Lutheran in Lake Elsinore, Calif., wrote to Te Lutheran that her congregation has a good balance of being welcoming and allowing space. “Te people were welcoming and helpful, but not in a fake ‘love- bombing’ fashion,” she said. “One lovely lady offered to sit next to me to help me understand the liturgy during the service. Another lovely lady gave me a brief tour of the facilities. I feel comfortable there. It’s perfect for me.”
Mueller, whose doctoral thesis was on technology
and the decline in mainline denominations for the future, is oſten asked how his congregation manages to be welcoming to all. “Te main thing that I’ve helped churches think about is to get over the family mental- ity—that everyone comes to be a family,” he said. “Some people like anonymity. “Te trick is in knowing how to do ministry on dif-
ferent paths. Tere’s a difference between warm and wel- coming, as in shaking your hand, and dragging you to coffee hour or signing you up for a committee. We don’t ever want to appear desperate.”
Kathi Shaheen (left) and Cheryl Hoffman greet one another during worship. This is formally called “passing of the peace,” but Messiah asks people to greet those around them in an effort to use language that is friendly to guests.
March 2016 17
and marital status, every ability and challenge.
We welcome believers and questioners, and questioning believers.’
situation was fairly dire when Bob Fritch arrived at Our Saviour Lutheran Church 24 years ago. Te congregation’s New York City neigh- borhood was evolving into a Caribbean-rim commu- nity, and Fritch said he was faced with changing how to do church or closing. Te pastor began practicing a welcoming ministry that revitalized Our Saviour. “We were a church slated to be closed, so a welcom-
ing program does work,” he said. Today Our Saviour is home to 250 worshipers at
three Sunday services and is a congregation that is con- stantly changing in a transient neighborhood. “We’re a melting pot of more than 20 nations of ori-
gin,” Fritch said. “For someone who isn’t of the major- ity to walk in [and] feel at home, that’s the winning combination.” Fritch said his approach focused on going back to basics: “First, fix your signage, clean the bathrooms, and
—Welcome statement, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Evanston, Ill.
DAVE NAGEL
DAVE NAGEL
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