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July 2010

It was a fairly typical Sunday morning, except that we were guests at another church. Ellen and I were helping our daughter, Julia, settle into her new city and we all went together to check out this church.

The preacher that day spotted us as new people, so he stopped by to say hi. When he found out that Julia was looking for an apartment, he offered to connect her with a member of the congregation who had a place to rent. He even offered to take us over there after church to introduce Julia to the woman. Friendly place, I thought.

During the prayer time, I offered a prayer for Julia as she was settling into a new city. (Subtext: hey folks, youíve got a potential new member here.) Afterwards, we waited near the coffee area for the pastoral associate. In the 10 minutes we stood there, coffee cups in hand, not one person spoke to us. No one said hello. No one asked Julia about her move to the city. They just chatted with each other and left.

One of the things we are proud of at Memorial is how friendly we are to visitors. Our experience at this church was a good reminder of how important that is. Itís important if we want visitors to come back, of course. But it is also important just in terms of basic hospitality, greeting people because we value them as human beings.

Some of you may have been in church last month for the story of Jesus having dinner at a Phariseeís house when a woman began bathing his feet in her tears. The host of the dinner had not provided the normal hospitality of foot washing for a guest who had just come in off the dusty streets. Do you think Jesus noticed? We sure noticed the lack of welcome by the members of this church in Juliaís new city.

So this is a chance to remind all of us here to keep an eye out on Sunday morning for folks who may be visiting with us and at least say hi. Even better, introduce yourself and ask them a bit about themselves.

One other related thought. I was at an event in Fitchburg recently about spreading the word about your business. Youíve probably heard of the idea of an elevator speech ñ what you can tell someone in 30 seconds as the elevator moves between floors.  You want to tell them enough so they might ask more.

Hereís mine: "I'm pastor of Memorial United Church in Christ over on Lacy Road - the church that looks like a spaceship landed in the neighborhood. We're a welcoming community of about 250 people who try to tend to the spirituality in our lives while finding ways we can serve the community around us."

What might you say to a visitor or to a friend about our congregation?