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Tai and Jackson and their two children, Emily (8) and Jason (12), moved to a new community and were looking for a church. Tai met a colleague at work who talked about her church and invited Tai and her family to worship. After her friend introduced them to others in the congregation, the people seemed nice to them. Because Tai's colleague had invited them, they continued for a few more Sundays. However, there were things that made them uncomfortable. When they went by the nursery, they noticed that the walls had been painted, but some of the toys had sharp edges, some were broken, and some were not age-appropriate for the small children in the room. After the second Sunday, Jason reported that the teacher reminded them at the beginning of each class that the adults had just spent time and money redecorating the room and the young people should not mark the walls or damage anything. One of the trustees told the adult Sunday school class they did not have to worry about the newly redecorated fellowship hall being ruined by the AA group that met there, as they had been told they could not meet there any more. The AA group included some people who smoked, and the trustees did not want that to take place in the "freshly" painted and decorated space, even though no other group met in the church that same night. Tai, Jackson, Emily, and Jason had "listened" to the values that were being lived out by that congregation and learned that they valued property more than people, cheap supplies for children more than their safety. They began their search again for a church home where hospitality meant focusing on people, not buildings and property; where hospitality meant sincere appreciation and welcoming of all people; a way to help all people experience God's graciousness. It is more than cookies and coffee!
Special Issue 2001
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More Than Coffee and Cookies
Did you know that if you have a fellowship hour following worship or between Sunday school and worship where you serve coffee only, you're saying to many people that they're not "in"? Today, many young adults drink neither coffee nor tea. So during those fellowship times, it's important to provide more than coffee. But that's not what this "more" is all about! "More" has to do with the fact that hospitality goes way beyond offering coffee and cookies at fellowship time.
Offering hospitality and welcome to the stranger in our midst goes beyond the ministry of greeters and ushers. It encompasses the whole ethos or climate of the congregation. Is the first welcome a visitor receives authentic? When visitors enter the sanctuary or celebration space, do they experience God's gracious love in the people they meet? What more are people seeking? They want to be in a space where they can encounter God in worship, not just hear about God. They need to know that what the church says it is,
it is. The church says it is about making disciples of Jesus Christ and reaching out to those in need in the community. How does your church live out what it says it is about? How does your congregation offer care to people in the congregation, community, and world? Even more than specific doctrine, studies indicate that most people who are searching are looking for meaning . . . a spirituality to guide their living . . . a place where there is integrity and authenticity between what the group (church) says it is about and how it really lives out its life in the community and in the world.