Welcoming the Stranger
Lee Thomas

More than a decade ago, as part of a larger response to General Convention's call to a "Decade of Evangelism," the Chapel of the Cross engaged the services of consultant Susy Miller for a weekend of workshops and meetings to evaluate, and where indicated, to improve how we go about welcoming and incorporating new members.

In the months that followed, a number of new structures and procedures were put into place which remain important parts of parish life today, including greeters before and after Sunday services, information cards in the pews, more bulletin instructions and directional signs, visits to deliver bread to registered newcomers, and periodically-scheduled newcomers' gatherings.  There also obtained among many a palpable sense of intention in welcoming and inclusiveness.

Eleven years have passed, and some things have changed: Chapel of the Cross has grown by several hundred communicants; Susy Miller is now President of Miller & Associates and is working with the House of Bishops and many dioceses, including North Carolina, leading strategy, reorganization, and evangelism processes; and General Convention has challenged us all to double nationwide membership by 2020.

The Chapel of the Cross probably need not expect to absorb every bit of that growth in this diocese but, as our Long-Range Planning Committee has indicated, we can expect, even hope, to see a significant number of potential new parishioners drawn by our distinctive approach to liturgy, music, education, fellowship, and service to others.

As these new members arrive (and many are reading this, their first issue of Cross Roads-we're glad that you're here!), it may well be time to refresh that sense of welcome (see above), especially for this writer.  From those workshops in 1992, here are ideas and opportunities, some practical and direct, some more subtle:

* Be sensitive to issues of personal space in pews.  A friendly glance while making room can do much to allay others' anxieties of intruding. * If you know the liturgy by heart and use the Book of Common Prayer only for the Psalm, take note of those around you.  If a stranger (or anyone else) is seated nearby and appears unfamiliar with the liturgy, open the book to the appropriate page and offer (by gesture) to share or pass it along.  If you follow every word, you can also be alert to helping those around you (i.e., share the book or pass it and open another).

* At the Peace, offer the intention to strangers as simply, warmly, and directly as to friends or acquaintances, remembering that it's a liturgical, rather than a social, act.

* When walking through parish buildings or on the grounds, consider that greeting or smiling at a stranger is not, in the context of Christian community, a breach of etiquette, but rather an expression of that community.

* Bear in mind that the goal is not to intrude or overwhelm (some people like to be left alone in church), but to reflect the spirit of openness and welcome that remains alive and well at Chapel of the Cross.