Kia ora koutou!
It was great to see so many of you on Sunday reflecting on what it means to be a welcoming and hospitable people! Caleb and Ruth shared from their experience and then encouraged us to think what we can do as individuals and as a Living Room community.
I’ve tried my best to compile all your wonderful ideas in general categories below. Check it out!
Worship
A few of you talked about what it means to be a welcoming worshipping community. The Church is firstly a gathered community, which means we exist purely because God welcomes us. Take the story of Mary and Martha for example (Luke 10:38-42). Martha is racing round in her own power, while Mary sits devotedly at Jesus’ feet in worship…this is the true posture for hospitality.
A significant theme that arose from your discussion was openness and inclusion of people different from us. I encourage you to push yourself outside your comfort zone at the Living Room…get to know people of different ages, cultures, ethnicities!
Eating Together
This is a great way to get to know people and to break down barriers of fear, ignorance and difference. Something happens when we eat and drink together. That’s why Communion is so central to the life of the Church — at the heart of who we are is a table, around which everyone is welcome.
Some of you have homes and are able to invite people for meals, others may be able to take friends our for coffee or a meal, still others might be good at accepting invitations and eating other people’s food! Whatever it is, I encourage to eat and drink with people as a Christian practice of hospitality!
Compassion
Many of you talked about showing compassion to those in need. From “being friendly and nice” to “commitment” to “resilience”, you showed a desire to sit with people in their pain. This is an important part of hospitality. It is not just charity, giving from our comfort and affluence. True hospitality is about walking with the hurting person, learning to see the world through their eyes.
Perhaps that’s the difference between Mary and Martha. Martha was being the good host. Mary was learning to be the good guest.
Quality Time
Spending quality time with people is a big one. From showing compassion, to eating together, to worshipping together — none of this can be easily done if you’re not willing to spend quality time with those different from you. It is in spending time with people that we learn to see them as more than just objects of charity and learn to see them as…well…people.
But giving up your time is one of the hardest things to do in such a fast-paced, busy world. I encourage you to try and be generous with your time. For example, block out spaces in your diary to spend with people you wouldn’t ordinarily hang out with!
Acts of Service
Just about every group came up with examples of acts of service…doing concrete things for people. This is the knitty-gritty of hospitality, working it out in practical ways. You suggested “lending things”, “babysitting”, “taking someone to the hospital”…this is all good stuff. Acts of service will look different for each of us, and ranges from small actions to big gestures of generosity. What practical acts of service can you enact in your life?
Some really great ideas emerged out of our discussion on Sunday night! Thank you for your thoughts. Where to from here? Well, in a way, that’s up to you. What will you do to be more welcoming, hospitable as a person?
But as a Living Room community we need your help! We need help with our Hospitality (supper) Team and our Welcome Team. Can you help?! Lea is coordinating this and you can email her at lea.mcewan@hopechurch.net.nz .
Interested?
Read more here about the Hospitality Team:
Who loves to share a meal together ?
Who loves that we share food together each week at the Living Room?
I definitely do! To make this happen we have a small team of people who work to make this happen each week but we would love some more people to also have an opportunity to make food happen at the Living Room.
On Sunday 28th after the service we will all gather together and bounce around some ideas. What did you love that we have eaten so far? What would you like to devour after a challenging service?
Let’s talk.
And regarding the Welcome Team:
Do you find all the awkwardness when you arrive somewhere new and have no idea where to sit, or even what is going on?
It is super helpful to have someone to welcome you at the door and to connect you into the Living Room environment. We would love if there were some more people who would like to spend a few minutes before the service welcoming people. This will look different for everyone, a high five, a warm smile or a simple, “Hey” at the door makes all the difference and lowers the awkwardness factor to being new.
Together as a community we all take turns at welcome, would you like to join us? Come and talk to me after the services, I promise it won’t be too awkward!
So happy welcoming and hosptialitizing!
Arohanui,
Jordan
