Being a Church that Welcomes - Sacrificially
Ok, so it's been a while since my last post. But what with all the travelling, restarting Sunday School and then the engagement party, I've been a little busy.
The Vietnam Memorial, Washington DC
I've uploaded some of my favourite photos from America onto Flickr. I'll put the NZ ones up a little later. What I want to share today though, are some more stories from my travels.
If you ever go travelling, may I strongly suggest that you try and find a local church each Sunday. You'll meet great people, learn more from the bible, and be encouraged as you see how God is working all over the world. [1]
On my trip I stopped at four churches:
- A family church in the UK on Christmas Eve (where the Pastor looked just like Mr Bean in Keeping Mum)
- An English speaking Anglican church in Madrid (we're talking hymn-book, robes, communal cup)
- Jman's church in NYC (Justin spoke on , except now he gets to pronounce "wrath" the American way)
- A Baptist church in Washington DC (which I didn't know at the time is actually quite a famous evangelical church, pastored by Mark Dever)
The thing that challenged me the most however, was how welcoming most of the people in these churches were. In NYC I met some great people, including Lily and Brent, who graciously took me out to lunch after the service and filled me in on the best stuff to see.
And in Washington DC, I was invited back to someone's house for dinner, and then given a personal 2-hour tour of the US Capitol building by a Texan Congressman's intern named JD. I got to walk in the underground tunnels, stand in the magnificent (even by European standards) Rotunda, and watch Congress in session (which you can only do if you're invited by a Congressman or their staff). As a West-Wing fan, it was truly one of the highlights of my trip, and I'm so grateful for JD for taking the time to show me round.
Me and JD "on the hill"
All-in-all I was overwhelmingly impressed by how welcoming these churches were, and challenged to be more welcoming myself to newcomers at 645. I think it's sad that people could easily walk into our church, sit in the corner, and walk out again without anyone noticing them.
We can so be more sacrificial in the way that we welcome people. If you meet someone new on Sunday, why not invite them to wherever you're going after church. If they are anything like me, I'm sure they'd greatly appreciate it.
[1] And btw, if your thinking of doing some traveling, be sure to check out Tubeo's site: http://www.backpocketbible.com. There are lots of great tips about staying strong in the faith while on the road.