Barnabas File

Dr. Terrell Carter invited me to be a guest on his weekly radio program which is broadcast in St. Louis.     We recorded the program last Friday and it was scheduled to be broadcast on Saturday.     This is not something I usually do, but I enjoyed the dialogue that emerged between the two of us. As Terrell asked me about some of the challenges that face the 21 st century church, I said, “One of the biggest challenges that we face is accepting people where they are rather than where we would like for them to be.”  I don’t think that I had actually used that terminology previously.  Whether we intend it or not, we think in terms of the “ideal new member” for our congregation, expecting the person to come up to certain standards.  Unconsciously we are thinking, “This way we avoid the hard work of acceptance.” Of course, we should ask ourselves, “When I first became part of a faith community, was I such a great ‘catch’?” The...

In most churches, this is the time of year when we “begin a new church year.”   Of course, I don’t mean the calendar year or the liturgical year, but the year tied to the end of summer and the beginning of school.   Most churches base their Bible study, discipleship, and mission programs on the beginning of the academic year, so this is the time when we dust off the old and roll out the new. This is often we reconsider the way that we go about welcoming guests in our congregations.  Why “guests” rather than “visitors”?  If people are visitors, we may be implying that we don’t expect them back.  Guests, however, are those with whom we want to develop rapport in hopes of an ongoing relationship. We often use the word “hospitality” to describe what we are offering when new folks come to call in our worship services and Bible studies classes.  Although we move quickly to the techniques involved in making someone feel welcome, perhaps...