Nurturing the Gift of Hospitality in Young Christians
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Mark 10:13-15
Our Ambassador visits reveal a remarkable variety of approaches to what seems to be the simple task of welcoming. Some assign the task to official greeters; others let the pastor handle it. Some ask visitors to introduce themselves; some point you to the guest book. Some church members wear name tags. Some offer coffee and sweets; others offer a meal.
There is a sense that this can be a challenge to congregations, especially when visitors have been rare for a while. While our Ambassadors cannot claim that they ever have been made to feel unwelcome, there are some churches who have honed their greeting skills a bit more than others.
We suspect one of the congregations we visited was conscious that this might be a weak point in their ministry. The bulletin included a prayer petition that their congregation “may learn the hospitality of Scripture and welcome our friends, family and guests with it.” Interestingly, while the congregation was entirely pleasant in passing the peace and saying hello, not a soul introduced themselves–not even the pastor. In contrast, on another visit to a church where the pastor was away, we were greeted first on the sidewalk and by virtually every person who walked into the sanctuary. We were even offered a tour after the service. We knew the names of several members before worship began. Their liturgy included a moment early in the service for welcoming. Hospitality clearly had been modeled and engrained in this community for some time.
As in much of church work there is a temptation to create a program for encouraging hospitality. It should be as simple as modeling good habits. Start with the children!
Redeemer Lutheran in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia, had a strong ministry to East African immigrants. Upon entering the home of one of our immigrant families, every family member comes to the door and shakes your hand. It was not surprising to see even the youngest children practicing this skill in church. It gave them a confidence that grew and soon translated into other skills.
This custom, brought to us from a foreign land, flies in the face of America’s best parenting practices.
We teach our children “don’t talk to strangers.” Adults tend to model what they teach their children. Our children can grow into adults who are afraid to reach out to shake hands and say the simplest words of introduction, “Hello. Welcome to our church. I am Tom. What is your name?”
This simple script is a recipe for teaching the fundamentals of hospitality. Begin to teach your congregation welcoming skills by teaching this script to your children.
- Give a children’s sermon on “welcoming.” There are many scriptures to use as a foundation, including the “Suffer the little children” passage quoted above from the NIV translation.
- As an exercise, ask the children to shake one another’s hands and follow the script. Allow enough time for them to get over the awkward giggles.
- When they have greeted every child. Ask them to walk down the aisle and practice it with adults. Ask older children to walk beside them to help them.
- Ask the adults to turn to the person next to them and practice.
- Repeat as needed.
Give the congregation the assignment of doing this every week with every visitor. Make sure they see church leaders practicing what they preach! If visitors are rare, practice on the people you know. Be ready to greet the first new face!