WEEK 4 – September 06, 2016

PART 1: The Roots of Hospitality

CHAPTER 4: Meals

STUDY NOTES

Best Practices: Welcoming Meals

Remember that God’s people need to be nourished around tables of fellowship and food.

Make group meals a regular, anticipated part of your church’s life together.

Avoid “club religion” at mealtimes by finding ways to help people who don’t yet know each other sit together for food and conversation.

Think of meals as potential outreach methods for the larger community.

Discussion Questions:

1. When does your congregation gather around tables for food and drink? What hapens?

2. Can you describe a coram Deo moment that you have had – an experience of welcome that caused you to feel the presence of God?

3. The Iona Community consciously links food with faith in the Communion of te Abbey and the picnic lunch of the Iona pilgrimage. Are there places that your congregation could connect food and faith? How would the soul – as well as the stomach – be fed by this?

4. Christ is present not only in Communion but in every meal that Christians share. What can we do to remind ourselves of this?

5. How does a shared meal set the stage for reconciliation? If you have experienced this, tell your story?

Action Plan:

Offer a mini-retreat on Christian hospitality on a Sunday afternoon. Begin with a congregational lunch, with church members gathered around tables. Identify and interview members who are skilled at hospitality and have them share their practices. Role-play situations in which strangers are welcomed or rejected. Display a large map of your church building and discuss how various spaces could be made more hospitable, including opportunities for food and drink. Discuss next steps and assemble a team of people willing to work on the ideas that have been generated. Close with an agapē  meal or Communion.

WEEK 3 – August 30, 2016

PART 1: The Roots of Hospitality

CHAPTER 3: Worship

STUDY NOTES

Best Practices: Worship

Don’t barrage guests with pleas for money. (Would you do this to guests in your own home?)

Lighten up. Humor and a personal touch are important in helping guests feel at ease in a new situation.

Choose accessible hymns and songs.

Try to keep the length to no more than an hour.

Make sure the bulletin spells out what guests need to do, including when the congregations sit, stands, or joins together in prayer.

Have church members, not guests, identify themselves by wearing name tags.

Best Practices: Avoiding “Club Religion”

Take time in your services to include practical instructions for guests who may not know what is expected.

Be sure that your “teaching messages” are directed more to guests than to church members.

Remember to celebrate your guests, not just tolerate them.

Discussion Questions:

1. Sam Lloyd of Washington National Cathedral promises that worshipers will be shaped as disciples of Christ. How does this add value to the worship service?

2. Washington National Cathedral, Cedar Ridge and Saddleback all have techniques for moving people through the gateway of worship to a place of meaningful connections. Which approach appeals to you?

3. What is most nourishing about your congregation’s service of worship? What are you doing to make sure everyone is being fed? Are there opportunities to make a “pay what you can” response ?

4. When do you fall into “club religion”, and how can you get out?

5. How can your worship be a participation in God’s own hospitality? What can you do on Sunday mornings to widen the circle of God’s inclusive love?

Action Plan:

Send teams of two to attend worship at other churches and to make notes of what they find to be confusing and off-putting as first-time visitors. have them look for ways that neighbor congregations are helping their visitors to feel welcome through spoken words, printed instructions, and teaching moments in the service. Take a close look at your own worship bulletin and mark the places where the clarity of the service could be improved. Report all these findings to your church’s worship team or committee in the spirit of making a high-quality service accessible to all.

WEEK 2 – August 23, 2016

PART 1: The Roots of Hospitality

CHAPTER 2: Sites

STUDY NOTES

Best Practices: Greeting Gurests

Make sure each guest is greeted at least three ties before seating.

Choose greeters who project warmth and smile readily.

When giving directions, use an open hand rather than a pointing gesture.

Once worship begins, be responsive to guests’ needs, but don’t intrude or single them out.

Best Practices: Think Like A Host

Focus on serving others and making them comfortable, not on whether you are having a good time.

Greet everyone, not just people you already know.

Make sure your building is an inviting place, and pay attention to things like lighting, seating, and signage.

Best Practices: A Welcoming Website

Remember that many guests’ first impressions of your church happen online, not in person.

Be sure that your Website has clear and easy-to-find instructions on attending worship service and classes.

Design the Website with links to your congregation’s various ministries and outreach programs.

Discussion Questions:

1. What are the “threshold places” in your church building? Are they bridges between the church and the world around it or barriers, how can they be turned into bridges?

2. In your own church involvement, do you think of yourself as a host? What could you do to play this role better?

3. When have you acted as a host and experienced a holy moment?

4. How could your church building be modified to meet the needs of guests, in addition to the needs of members?

5. If your church has a Website, is it easy for a stranger to navigate? How could it be improved?

Action Plan:

As an individual, a couple of friends, or a family, do an assessment of St. Matthias Church Buildings and grounds.  Try to look at our buildings and grounds through the eyes of an outsider and make notes on how various spaces in the church could be made more hospitable. Take pictures of entrances and public spaces. Pay attention to signage and whether it is easy or difficult to find various rooms.

Also, visit neighboring churches and observe what they are doing to make their building more welcoming. Consolidate your findings and present a brief report to Fr. Jim who will consolidate all the information and report the findings to the vestry and then the whole church.

WEEK 1 – August 16, 2016

PART 1: The Roots of Hospitality

CHAPTER 1: Biblical and Historical Roots of Christian Hospitality

STUDY NOTES

Best Practices: Hospitality 101

A welcoming site.

A worship service.

A meal.

A small group.

The work of reconciliation.

Outreach into the community.

New perceptions of God’s inclusive love.

Discussion Questions:

1. What reasons does the Bible command us to go beyond love of neighbor to love of stranger?

2. Where do you see hospitality in the practices of the people of ancient Israel?

3. What happens when Jesus welcomes and includes people?

4. Can you identify examples of philoxenia (love of the stranger) and xenophobia (fear of the stranger) in today’s church?

5. Should hospitality be denied to any categories of people? If so, which ones?

6. At first glance, which of the best hospitality practices is most important to you? Why?

Action Plan:

In teams of two, walk through the neighborhood around your church and note the people of different races, cultures, ages, and economic groups that are living around the church. List the groups of strangers that are currently not being welcomed by your congregation. Identify some of the barriers to their inclusion and begin thinking of practical ways to show better hospitality.