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

I am about to embark upon a new ministry next week. A congregation that has been experiencing conflict, trauma, grief and fragmentation now has no minister. My task is to lead worship, nurture a sense of peace and provide pastoral care to the community while they wait for a qualified interim minister to become available. I wonder how to enter this community with openness to the Spirit at work and without a naivety that all is a bed of roses.

This seems like Emerging Spirit work on a very personal level. What will it take to welcome members of the congregation into my life? It bears a close resemblance to the congregational work of hospitality where we are called upon to be bearers of a holy welcome to all who come through the door, regardless of their ability to throw wrenches in our well-oiled congregational machine.

Hospitality is not about making friends or converts; it is not about being nice or generating intimacy. The practice of Christian hospitality welcomes because the other is, at least, a child of God; at most, an angel.

In ministry we know from experience that we will not form a close bond with all members yet we are called to share prayer, faith, times of joy, celebration, illness and grief together. The hospitable attitude of being honoured to with each person serves us well.

The practices of welcoming congregational members into our lives can sound simplistic: being genuinely curious about all the folk, making sure to listen to all voices, not demeaning familiar music (at least initially), smiling, and not spending all the time with folk most like me. I am astonished the difference these practices of hospitality make.

Hospitality impacts every member of the Christian community, including how ministers treat congregations.