A Family Welcome

by Clair Woodbury

We had friends over for dinner last week. Getting ready began with sending invitations to people we knew would enjoy each other's company. Then came the menu planning. We found a great recipe on the internet for marinated leg of lamb. The day of the dinner, it was my job to do the vacuuming and clean the bathrooms. An extra leaf stretched the table to accommodate everyone. When set with flowers, the Blue Willow china and freshly polished silverware, its visual message to our guests was "You are very special and are most welcome."

At church the next day I got to thinking. We talk about wanting new people to join our congregation. When they come through the door for the first time, they need to know they are special guests and that they are appreciated for just being here. We want them to experience a warm welcome and their time with us to be a rich and meaningful encounter. It's not that different from what we wanted for our dinner party.

Let's start with the invitation. One church we know distributes carefully printed brochures in the community when they are having a special event. You can go and experience the setting without making a permanent commitment. That is important in this era when people want to try out a number of congregations in order to find one that really fits for them.

Another congregation works hard to make their lawn sign truly inviting. They avoid words like Sexagesimal Sunday or Eucharist and use only vocabulary that people with little or no church experience can readily understand. That is after all who they want to reach.

I live on the fourth floor of a condo building. When people arrive I like to go out and meet them in the hall as they get off the elevator. It's just a little more special than waiting until they find the suite and knock on the door. Perhaps the church equivalent would be a parking lot attendant, or at minimum, someone outside opening the door for people as they arrive.

That doesn't mean there is no one inside also greeting. Actually when my guests arrived, some did not know everyone there and it was a matter of doing introductions. Not just names, but letting people know something about each person so they had a way of starting a conversation. That reminds me of a church I was visiting where the greeter recognized me as new and learned I was a church consultant. Three minutes later, he was tapping me on the shoulder and introducing a member of the congregation who was also a church consultant. I was impressed.

Bathrooms are a place everyone visits. My award for lavatory luxury goes to two congregations I know who have sparkling clean facilities with art on the walls and a basket of lotions plus a box of tissue beside the sink.

We know people feel much more comfortable with a drink in their hand. That's why many congregations offer people a coffee as they walk in the door. A warm cup of coffee puts real warmth into the welcome.

Then there is the menu. We try to make the food at a dinner party special in some way. That should be the case with the "menu" when people participate in a congregational event, whether it is Sunday worship or a mid-week gathering. Food for the soul needs to be as nourishing and as tastefully prepared as the fare at the finest of dinner parties.

I know our dinner guests look forward to coming back. With the right welcome, church guests will feel the same way.

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Congregational News Nov. 2009 Vol. 16 No. 2

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