Healthy Churches Don't take Summer Vacations
Summer time offers churches a wonderful opportunity to re-think how they do hospitality. One of the signs of a fruitful and healthy church is that radical hospitality is something that becomes part of the year round culture of a congregation. The summer months provide churches with a unique opportunity to begin new hospitality habits that could last all year round. Many churches, this time of year, encounter visitors or have the chance to invite travelers into their midst. Now is the time to take seriously these words from Jesus: "I was a stranger and you welcomed me ....Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." (Matthew 25:35,40)
If we truly believe what Jesus said, "Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me," no longer would we pass by persons attending our worship services or other church functions without offering a simple and gracious word of greeting - to those we know and those we do not. If we truly believed these words, no longer would we pass up opportunities to personally invite again and again the traveler, the visitor, the tourist to worship, or eat, or to join us for family game night, or movie night, or church picnic, or Vacation Bible School.
In order to be a healthy, fruitful, and growing church we need to take time to study these words of Jesus and ask ourselves individually and as congregations, "How does this message from Jesus call us to act and to live in the communities in which we find ourselves?" Study the words of Jesus and discuss the following questions in your congregation this summer: " Why do people need Christ? Why do people need the church? Why do people need your particular congregation?" (Adam Hamilton, Leading Beyond the Walls [Abingdon Press, 2002]; p.21) Study! Question! Discuss! Take action! Offer Radical Hospitality in ways you never dreamed of to the stranger, the traveler, the tourist, and the person you've seen around town forever but really don't know and you may find yourselves bringing life, resurrection, and salvation not only to others but to yourself and your church!
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Committee on Clergy and Lay Leadership
