It's our job to create the friendly, open atmosphere of heaven… or at least Disney.
Not long ago an acquaintance bemoaned the "Stay Off the Lawn" signs that ran around a church property near her house. She joked that she wanted to sneak back at night and cover the "Stay Off" signs with ones that instead offered an invitation to come play on the lawn.
I'd like to tell you that she actually did this—and signed Jesus' name to them—but I don't want to get anyone in trouble. So I'll just say the whole thing was hilarious, and maybe felonious, but it cut to the quick of a big problem we the church face: our nasty reputation for being less than welcoming.
This is not news. Lots of folks talk about how churches and the Christians who fill them up are known more for what we're against than what we're for and more about whom we'd like to keep out than who'd we want to invite in, or at least keep in.
Plenty of churches combat this reputation with neighborhood outreach programs or signs and banners proclaiming that all are welcome. These ideas are good ones; it's important to declare a welcome posture to a doubting world.
But a trip to Disneyland this summer—and few moments with a video gone viral —reminded me that if we church folk want to welcome the world Jesus-style into God's house, programs and banners won't cut it.
Consider the Disney welcome: After receiving a fist-bumping, "high-fouring" welcome from Mickey Mouse-gloved cast members who lined Disneyland's Main Street, my 6-year-old said, "It's like heaven."
And he couldn't have been more right.
In fact, upon seeing the smiling employees waving and wishing us good morning, telling us to have great days, my eyes teared up a bit as my body tingled with the delight of this over-the-top greeting. Because indeed the Disney-style welcome we received that day was a picture of heaven—or at least the way I hope it'll be.
But more than the kind of welcome it will be, I realized the Disney-style welcome is the kind of greeting every welcome should be, at least for those of us interested in being the kind of Christians who bring about God's kingdom—one that sparkles of heaven—here on earth. Read more
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2 comments:
I am opposed to the handshake peace wishing time at church. It is tedious, insincere and distracts from worship. I question its history and origins.
The point of the article is that churches need to be more intentional and pro-active in welcoming visitors. Many churches do a very poor job of making first time visitors and newcomers feel welcome and at home.
The exchange of the peace has Christian origins--Paul's "greet each other with a holy kiss." By the time of the Reformation it was restricted to the clergy and had become highly formalized--the priest kissed what was called the "peace board." Archbishop Cranmer dropped it from the communion service of the Church of England. It was not reintroduced into the Anglican liturgy until the second half of the twentieth century.
When it comes to exchanging the peace in a service, folks falls into two camps--those who are quite comfortable with the practice and look forward to greeting their fellow worshipers and those who don't like the practice at all. In some churches in the UK I understand they brew tea during this point in the service.
Liturgically the exchange of the peace functions as a "hinge" between the service of the Word and the service of the Table. At one time these two services were separate.
After an exuberant exchange of the peace an offertory song can be used to put the congregation in the proper frame of mind for the eucharistic prayer, the breaking of the bread, and the communion.
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