Welcoming visitors

The language we use as we welcome people at church is significant. It says all sorts of things about us, and also sets the language we use in church for a considerable time into the future.

Here is an example. For a couple of years now a line I hear at the beginning of almost every gathering is “Hello, for those of you who don’t know me, I’m [insert name]”. This introduction does many things. Most importantly, it says that we recognize there will be people in our meeting who don’t know who is up front, and we have thought about them and care for them. But it so quickly becomes part of the unchanging liturgy we employ and consequently members stop listening to what has been said.

In many ways the introducing of oneself is innocuous, but there are other things we say that I want us to think about because they are of greater significance. Read more