By Jeff Olsen, head of Greeter Ministry
Think back to the last time you visited another church. What was that experience like? Did you feel welcome? Would you go back?
On a trip to Maine, I found an Episcopal Church to worship at for Easter. Prior to church I was greeted warmly by the rector, but after church, as I wandered around the fellowship hall, not a single person came up to say hello, to welcome me, or to offer a means to get more information about the church. I noticed small groups of people talking to each other, and I smiled and walked slowly past them before I went to my car and left. I was hoping to hear some of the history of this lovely church and instead left feeling disappointed.
At St. John’s, we take the ministry of hospitality very seriously. We believe—as our nickname, “Church of the Open Door” indicates—that all are welcome into the body of Christ. We’re called to practice the ministry of hospitality by extending a warm welcome to visitors, sharing our stories with one another at coffee hour, and inviting our visitors to sign our guest book so we can pray for them by name and invite them to join us again next week.
I remember well being greeted and welcomed to the St. John’s community. Even on days when I am not assigned as a greeter, I look for people I don’t recognize and introduce myself to them: “Hello, I don’t believe we’ve met before, my name is …” Using simple words such as this helps me to be the person I had hoped to meet in Maine.
Another way to welcome the stranger is to participate in wearing a name tag at church: before, during and after the service and coffee hour. To help with this, St. John’s has added beautiful magnetic name tag boards to the two closets adjacent to the front doors in the Narthex. This was done under the direction of our Building Committee, especially Julia Ferguson, Jim Johnson, Dusty Mairs, Rick Moore, with a generous donation from Gopher Signs.
If you have not already started using them, please take a peek next Sunday and find your name tag. It may be hanging on the board already, or in the filing box in the left-hand closet. If you don’t see your name tag, please ask a greeter to help you.
Everyone is worthy of being known. Learning each other’s names is a good place to start. In this way, you also can practice the radical act of hospitality to others by being your usual friendly self, wearing a name tag, and reaching out to those you don’t know.
Originally printed in the May/June 2018 Evangelist.
