From the Pastor

April 2007

  All Are Welcome

All are welcome.  These three words, or something similar, are printed on almost every church sign in the hopes of encouraging strangers to come to church on Sunday morning.  It's hard to imagine a church where all are not welcome ­ where someone would be asked to leave because of their hair style or the clothes they are wearing.  As long as they aren't disruptive during the service, as long as they didn't seem to pose any threat we'd welcome pretty much anyone, wouldn't we?  Sure we would.  And we'd be pleasant, and we'd ask them to sign the guest book, and we'd invite them to coffee.  And we'd hope to see them next week.

It seems to be a human trait to want to feel welcome ­ to be accepted and feel that we are among friends.  Many people have had the experience of not feeling welcome.  People often tell me of experiences they have had visiting a church where they did not feel welcome ­ where they were not greeted warmly, where they were not invited to coffee, indeed, where nobody even spoke to them.  And yet, there is a good chance that posted proudly on the sign of that church were printed the words: all are welcome.

The word `welcome' is a compound of two words: `well' and `come.'  Come means to appear or arrive.  Well refers to something that is good and whole.  In Greek, well is very closely related to the  word for salvation.  In the New Testament, to be saved is to be made well and whole.  So, it's not too much of a stretch to suggest that offering welcome has something to do with offering salvation when a stranger appears in our midst ­ that they are greeted and accepted as a child of God and offered wholeness, peace, and life while among us.

Are we prepared to offer this kind of welcome to anyone who appears in our midst on Sunday morning?

The Bible attributes to Jesus these words as advice to his disciples as he sends them out into the world: If anyone will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave.  It also attributers to Jesus these words as he took a child into his arms: Whoever welcomes one such child in my name, welcomes me..."

`Welcome' is a New Testament value.  It implies that when one is welcomed that they are accepted and loved, and that this love and acceptance has something to do with their very salvation.  I'd love to proclaim that all are welcome on our church sign, and I'd love for it to be true.

Peace,
Pastor Brian