Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada

The process of making church space more welcoming reminds me of home makeover shows on television.  On TV, we always get to see the "before" and then after an intense few days, we get to see the dramatic "reveal" for the "after" effect.  Recently, embarking on their own version of a makeover, the members of both the Property and Worship committees took a "walkabout" with me to get a sense of the "before".  They were charged with the task of creating a wish list of all the things - big and small - that could be fixed, replaced, removed, changed or enhanced to make Dunbar Heights more welcoming to newcomers, to children and young families, and to one another.  Starting at the front door, we moved through the Narthex, the Sanctuary, the Church Hall corridors, and the entrance to the church hall.  This could have been a mundane exercise but surprisingly, we had fun!  A few people dreamed up new uses for empty spaces.  It seemed as though there were many simple improvements that could be made that would have significant impact.  Everyone seemed to agree that attending to these easy low or no cost options would be the easiest way to effect transformation.   Over time, as Dunbar Heights seeks to implement the changes it has identified, its spirit of welcoming will be further revealed.

These past few days I have been thinking about notions of success and timing.  The two are often connected or collapsed.  So while we might really appreciate a particular outcome or accomplishment, we can be less than satisfied with its timing.  In my own case, I usually want something now- or at least by the time I think it should have materialized.   Now this should is my clue to realizing that I have gotten hooked somewhere along the way.  I am no longer in the flow. I am rather in the business of getting the job done or forcing an outcome.  

This line of reflection has come to me on the heels of participating on a leadership retreat with the leaders of Dunbar Heights UC.  The facilitators did a great job of inviting people to imagine together the future that Dunbar wants to live into.  What struck me the most was the gentleness and elegance with which the facilitators encouraged leaders to name the areas that were previously listed as priorities but had not received much attention, energy or concrete action in the past few years. This was not an easy process and yet people were able to name several areas that were still important to them but were not being addressed due to a lack of time, energy or resources.

I recently had a conversation with someone who described two contrasting, but equally effective approaches to welcoming newcomers on Sunday morning.

Church A, a neighborhood church, made no special attempt to recognize her as a newcomer or make any sort of fuss.  People in this church were very friendly but she "really likes the fact that they weren't pushy".  She was able to slip into the sanctuary all the while preserving a sense of anonymity.  At Church B, a large downtown church, this same woman said that she was welcomed by a greeter who asked her if she wanted a visitors' name tag and she was provided with information about the church by means of an information table in the narthex.  While she was clearly identified as a newcomer, it was clear to her that she was not expected to join the community. She reported feeling no sense of pressure.  What interests me the most is that she found both approaches effective and genuinely hospitable.  This makes me curious about both personal preferences and the people skills of greeters (and others) with respect to the Ministry of Hospitality.