My first four months since joining you as Head of Congregational Life at St Martin’s have raced by. It has been a joy to get to know the life and ministry of this place, and to feel so welcomed by you all. As part of my role, I have had the joy of sampling many of the services that take place through the week, and to experience welcome and hospitality as a newcomer, and it is one of these experiences in particular that I wanted to share with you.
A few weeks ago I attended Bread for the World on a Wednesday evening. It was a dark evening, as after a very warm autumn the nights suddenly were drawing in, and the atmosphere in church was quiet but with an air of joyful expectation for what was to come. It was after the sharing of the Peace as the congregation moved to gather around the altar, that I was approached by the steward on duty, having spotted a new face, and invited to join everyone. There was no assumption that I would know what was happening next, neither was the explanation and invitation laboured. The welcome was warm, and the invitation genuine but unpressured.
It’s moments like this that remind me of the call we all have to offer welcome and hospitality as part of the Christian life. I’m sure we all have horror stories to tell about churches we have visited where the welcome has been absent or so overly earnest it made us want to run in the opposite direction!
When we offer authentic welcome we give people a taste of the kingdom of God. The Christian model of hospitality is based on the giving of oneself for the other in ways without qualification or condition, based entirely on the rule of loving your neighbour as yourself. True hospitality goes beyond being friendly; it is welcoming people with warmth and openness, in ways that surprise and delight them by making them feel noticed without being conspicuous, and hopefully making them feel so welcome they want to return again. So, thank you, and keep up the good work!
Rosemary Morton
