How to help people find a church that feels like home
Explore how belonging, hospitality and faith-filled community can transform a congregation into a place where newcomers and longtime members alike can flourish.
By Bishop Gretchen Rehberg | FāVS News Columnist
The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News.
It is a delight to be home! I love sleeping in my own bed, eating meals with mom and relaxing in my chair. There is a comfort in being home: It is where I belong.
While my apartment in Seattle was nice, it was a house, not a home. As I was reflecting on the difference, it occurred to me that for many who come to visit our churches this is what they are looking for — not just a house of worship, but a spiritual home, a place where they belong.
Creating a place where people belong
Home is where you find love, solace, comfort. Home is where you are accepted and included. Home is where you are fully known.
Now, I don’t want to imply that this is true for every family and every household, but if we think about a home as its ideal, this is what it means. I think that people are looking for a spiritual home, where they are fully known and loved, where they are accepted and included and where they can flourish and grow.
One challenge to the image of home is that we can become too comfortable, too set in our own ways, too used to where the furniture goes or how we do the chores. We might even become so comfortable with the familiar that we miss that the things are starting to decline: the roof that is getting old, the window that doesn’t shut right anymore and so on.
OK, I might be pushing the metaphor a bit, but no metaphor is always perfect. We might want, even need, a spiritual home. But we also need to recognize that we don’t just stay inside our home. It might be our “home” but not where we are called to be at all times.
Our true home is always with God, and God is and can be found everywhere. Our church home must compel us out just as much as it embraces us in.
Opening our doors and our hearts
Fall is a classic time when people visit and “try out” congregations. Summer is a good time to prepare for this. Take a look at your congregation and reflect on how well it is a home and not just a house. If you were coming for the first time, would you be welcomed at the door, assisted as needed with the liturgy or invited to coffee hour by someone who will sit with you?
Does your congregation clearly welcome all, and not just welcome but accept and fully include, and how would a visitor know? Does your congregation provide ways to deepen and grow in faith, and engage in the practices of Jesus? Does your congregation find ways to play together and eat together?
These are important questions at all times. Being intentional about asking them and fearless about answering will allow us to be the spiritual homes that we all seek.
I invite all of us to think about how we can provide spiritual homes to the many who are spiritually homeless, and a true home to those who currently experience only a house.
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