| A Message from the Interim Pastor…
Many church growth experts agree that most congregations have things backwards. For example, congregations insist that they need to be welcoming. They invest incredible amounts of time and energy into becoming a welcoming congregation. But we, along with so many other congregations, have placed our emphasis in the wrong place.
You see, from a missional perspective, “welcoming” is passive. It indicates that we are waiting for visitors and guests to drop by. When they do, we attempt to treat them very well and do everything possible to make them comfortable. We’ll do whatever it takes to have them come back next Sunday, even if they shouldn’t. Welcoming is about us – not about them.
“Inviting,” however, is different. It means that we leave the comfort of our congregational home-court advantage. The main activity doesn’t happen in our worship space when people drop in, but in the neighborhood when we go out. It isn’t so much welcoming them into our place, but going out into their place and meeting them there.
But even that warrants a significant caveat. Being “inviting” is not just another gimmick to get people into the church. It isn’t just another attempt to bolster declining membership. It goes much deeper than that. It starts with who God has called us to be as church. It involves discovering our gifts and purpose. And it mandates joining God at work in the world. This isn’t about getting the world into God’s church. It’s about getting the church into God’s world.
Welcoming involves hoping whoever happens to find us will stay. Inviting involves sharing God’s gifts in the world.
Peace and blessing,
Pastor Michael |
