Renewing welcoming certification
requires self-study, commitment

By Deborah Youngblood
First UMC, Falfurias; First UMC, Premont
Phil and I have been working on the appearance of the front entrance of the parsonage. We’ve tucked an arrangement of plants in the little nook to the left of the front door. It is a pleasant place to sit and think. I like it because it is peaceful, and I get to wave at the neighbors as they go by. It provides a welcoming approach to the house, too.
What we see and experience as we approach a new place for the first time sets the stage for what happens next. Let’s face it. If you have to fight your way through a jungle of weeds and plants to get to the front door, you might think that guests weren’t wanted.
Or if steps are uneven or dangerous, visitors might get the idea that the well-being of guests is not important. And if the person answering the door greets with a frown and no invitation to come in, we’re apt to not feel terribly welcome. We all want to feel welcome, cared for and wanted. We all want friends.
The welcoming congregation certification that each congregation received last year is up for renewal. Lest we think we are doing everything right, we are invited to examine ourselves again.
Lay leaders have lists of all the things we need to do to be a welcoming congregation. These kinds of activities are very important, but wouldn’t it be nice if all we had to do to be a welcoming congregation was put a check in the right blocks. Sadly, we can meet all the requirements of the welcoming-congregation program and still be the most unwelcom-ing congregation in existence. All it takes to turn someone away is one person who didn’t want to be bothered with a visitor.
Imagine how hard it is to screw up the courage to go to a church by yourself, to sit through an hour of unfamiliar ritual, to sing songs that you don’t know, to read a prayer aloud and in unison with strangers, to visit with people you don’t know. If a person comes with a hurting heart, it can be devastating to be ignored or not invited to Sunday school or not included in lunch plans.
People who come to us are searching for God, but if they can’t find a friend in church, how will they find God in church?
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.”