What’s this book about?

Becoming a Welcoming Church by Thom Rainer, published in 2018, challenges Christians to develop ways of welcoming newcomers to church every week. While there are some great welcoming ministries currently in place at St Michael’s, including welcoming teams each Sunday and long-serving outreach programs and partnerships with people from our local community, Rainer urges us to set our sights higher by continuing to build up our churches as a welcoming communities. He provides the following Bible verses in claiming that a welcoming church culture is important in proclaiming the Gospel in our local community:

share with the Lord’s people who are in need… practice hospitality

Romans 12:13

offer hospitality to one another without grumbling

1 Peter 4:9

do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

Hebrews 13:2

How we need to welcome newcomers…

Rainer states that most churches see themselves as “welcoming”. However, he also claims that regular churchgoers are often welcoming and friendly only to those people they know and often ignore newcomers. By sticking close to people they know and like, they can retreat into what Rainer describes as “holy huddles” before and after Sunday services. This behaviour can isolate and discourage people who are brave enough to turn up at our churches for the first time and know no-one.

Rainer also states that newcomers who turns up to church where no-one talks to them rarely, if ever, return. However, he says a truly welcoming church is defined by more than what we do at the church door each Sunday – we need to actively build bridges with newcomers and accept them into our church community as valued and loved individuals.

Some practical strategies

So how should we continue to build upon a welcoming culture at St Michael’s?

Rainer suggests a few practical strategies….

• We need to make sure people know who we are, what we do, where we are and when we meet and publish this information on a constantly updated website that is easy to navigate (Rainer says most people nowadays first learn about a church via the internet).
• We need to make the arrival of newcomers to our churches as smooth as possible by setting up clear signs outside our churches outlining service times and establishing guest car-spaces for them (Rainer says there is nothing worse than a newcomer searching for a car-space for half an hour and arriving late for the service).

Rainer then suggests some basic guidelines for rostered welcomers at church –

• Be at church early so you can welcome any early-comers
• Station yourselves at strategic locations (front and back doors, the carpark);
• Always introduce yourself to newcomers
• Have church information on-hand for anyone new to the church
• Appoint a “roaming” welcomer for newcomers standing or sitting alone.

In conclusion

In summary, Rainer challenges us to see “welcoming” as not merely what we do at the church door each Sunday. We need to develop a church culture that lets everyone in our community know that “we want you here!”. He concludes by stating that when newcomers feel welcomed at church and are embraced and valued by the whole church community, they experience the love of Christ that transforms lives – the Great Commission in action (Matthew 28: 18-20).

Ian and Jennifer Jackson (10am)

This book is available to borrow from both Wollongong and Corrimal