Welcoming Strangers in Your Church

With the start of school, it’s a time of year when families set new patterns for the coming year. Many families and individuals will decide that now is time to find a church home. If you don’t already have a church, I hope that you will venture out this weekend in search of a place to worship with others. However, this column is directed to the people who already have a church, the ones who will be receiving newcomers into their midst.

            As new people come to your church, how will they be welcomed? Welcoming newcomers is not the job of the pastor, the ushers, or some committee. The Bible knows nothing about such distinctions when it comes to hospitality though scripture does have plenty to say about welcoming strangers. Looking through some of these verses gives us a strong biblical background from which we can understand why welcoming newcomers into church is so important.

Each of us has experienced times when we were the stranger, the one looking for hospitality. In Leviticus 19:34 we find Israel instructed that, “The alien who resides with you shall be to you as a citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” In remembering that we were once strangers, we are to love the strangers in our midst.

Throughout the Old Testament we find further references to the importance of hospitality to the stranger. In Genesis 18, Abraham extends hospitality to three strangers and is blessed.  While in Genesis 19, Lot extends hospitality to two messengers from God and he and his family are spared from the destruction. In 1 Kings 17:8-15, the widow of Zeraphath offers hospitality to the prophet Elijah and her supply of food miraculously lasts through the time of famine.

Within the New Testament, the word for hospitality is the Greek word philoxenos. Philoxenos means to love the stranger (philos=love, xenos=stranger). So to offer hospitality in the New Testament is by definition to show love for the stranger.

Jesus himself is both the stranger and the one offering hospitality. In the Gospel of Luke from 9:51 when Jesus “sets his face to go to Jerusalem” until 19:45 when he enters the Temple, Jesus is almost always on the road. In his travels Jesus stays with others, relying on their hospitality.

Jesus remains the stranger, the one on the margins of society in need of the hospitality of others. At the same time, Jesus is welcoming and extends hospitality himself. Jesus used table fellowship to show what the Kingdom of God should be like and then he shared the table with “tax collectors and sinners.”

Finally love of strangers is an important part of Jesus’ teaching. In the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), love for the stranger is seen as a form of love of neighbor. Throughout the Gospels, we see that hospitality was both something Jesus depended on for his life and ministry and a vital part of who he was as God incarnate.

Other New Testament passages show the importance of welcoming the stranger. In Romans 12:13, Paul told Christians to help those already in the church and welcome new folks into the church writing, “Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.” Hebrews 13:1-2 says, “Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Christians are clearly called upon to continually show love for the stranger.

The hospitality Jesus taught is not a decorative add-on to our beliefs, but a central value. Just as hospitality (love of stranger) was part of who Jesus was, it is to be part of who we are. Acts of hospitality flow out of love for the stranger.

As the church is the Body of Christ, which is to be made up of different persons with varying gifts, every church is made more fully into the image of Christ through each newcomer welcomed. Churches need to welcome into community people whose experiences, backgrounds, abilities and interests are different from those already in the church.

Some practical suggestions may help you better understand how you can assist your church in welcoming newcomers. I suggest that persons who are committed to their faith and their church practice the five-minute rule. Hang around the church for five minutes after the service, either in the sanctuary, lobby or coffee area, wherever newcomers are likely to hang back looking to see if someone might welcome them.

If you see someone you don’t recognize go up and say something like, “Hi I’m _____, I don’t think we have met before.” This won’t offend a fellow church-goer you have yet to meet or a visitor. Then take the time to get to know the person.

If five minutes pass and you haven’t found someone new to greet, head on to whatever you have to do next. However, if you make a connection, stay and talk as long as it takes to get to know the person. If he or she has questions you can’t answer, introduce them to someone who can. In future weeks check to see if newcomers you have welcomed in the past are around, search them out and catch up on how they are doing.

Remember that you were once a visitor looking to meet others, if not in your church, then in some other setting. Reach out to newcomers in love; welcoming them as you wished someone had welcomed you. A few minutes of welcoming time each Sunday will not change your week significantly, but it could be of eternal significance to the person you welcome.

Hospitality will fail if it is a church growth gimmick, with no genuine concern for others. For we do not welcome strangers to help our church grow. We welcome the stranger because offering hospitality is part of who we are to be as Christians.

(The Rev. Frank Logue is pastor of King of Peace Episcopal Church in Kingsland.)

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