Lessons from Warm, Inviting Spaces
A welcoming culture is like a sourdough starter — at least, that’s how the Rev. Kate Reur Welton sees it. Through her involvement with campus ministry at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, she has witnessed how even one meaningful, welcoming experience can take on a life of its own, growing and passing among leaders and students.
Like a well-tended bread starter, this dynamic hospitality results from intention. Students are taught hospitality as practical skills: how to initiate conversations, how to extend invitations, how to go deeper and so on.
The ELCA at large is known for its open doors and inclusive theology, but there is room to educate and adapt when it comes to helping all people truly feel a sense of belonging. Here, we’ll look at what the Barna Group and Fuller Theological Seminary learned from interviews with ELCA congregations and ministries about taking steps to prioritize warmth and welcome.
Not Just “Happy Greeters”
At congregations like Light of Christ Church in Algonquin, Ill., moments of connection with newcomers aren’t left up to chance but often result from a deliberate strategy.
Jennifer Alderson, director for welcome and communications, describes the church’s thoughtful system of touchpoints with guests: email and phone call follow-ups, a letter from the pastor and simple gifts for visitors who fill out connection cards. She notes that these well-considered steps are a top-down priority, reinforced by senior leadership. “We’re a grace-filled church that meets people where they’re at,” she says. “We have a strong core DNA around this.”
Daniel Pugh, pastor of Christ the King Lutheran Church in Cary, N.C., echoes this idea. “[Hospitality] can’t just be happy greeters,” he says. “There's a lot of hard work associated with that.” At his church, this manifests in gestures such as:
- Name tags for everyone, with space for pronouns
- Updated liturgy with more inclusive phrasing
- Gluten-free or prepackaged communion
- Accessible entrances, restrooms and altars for people with disabilities
- A “connection corner” by the door
Pugh knows the congregation, also a Reconciling in Christ (RIC) community, is “aggressively intentional” about hospitality. But, as he says, “it has to be fundamentally core to who you are.”
An Invitation to Meet Needs
For Sister Cora Rose, extending warmth to her community can sometimes be quite literal: a hot shower, a hearty meal or a warm “living room” space in the church’s library.
As an ELCA deaconess who specializes in poverty alleviation, she works through a congregation in Oregon to fill gaps in government services. Hospitality, she believes, is about knowing and meeting people’s real needs. Sometimes that’s an ice pack, a power adapter or space for a recovery group meeting. Periodically, the church hosts primary care and dental care providers or adult protective and child welfare services. Rose, also an attorney, offers legal support and consultation around the community.
“We integrate newcomers because we need to,” she says. “This is a ministry of solidarity, survival and human dignity.”
Youth-led Inclusivity
Research by Barna suggests that younger laity are often more inclined than their older counterparts to recognize shortcomings — and point toward solutions — when it comes to creating welcoming environments. Considering this, it should be no surprise that ELCA camps emerge as exceptionally inviting spaces from which other churches and ministries can learn. (Attempting to replicate some of the warmth of a camp experience, Christ Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kan., went so far as to build a campfire setting on their property!)
At Pinecrest Lutheran Leadership Ministries in Johnsonburg, N.J., intentional inclusion starts with recruitment and permeates everything from website copy and training materials to new camper orientation and cabin leadership structures. Emphasis is put on striving to be queer-affirming and anti-racist; any exclusionary behavior is not tolerated. Student leaders and staff are taught to be present, to listen well and to avoid pressuring those who are struggling or feeling shy or awkward.
The 100-year-old camp keeps its nimble approach by trusting the young people it serves, who represent increasingly diverse generations. “In the ways [campers] have experienced welcome or haven’t experienced welcome, they are the best teachers,” says the Rev. Danielle Miller, camp director. “That is the greatest teacher: people teaching through their experience.”
Resourcing Good Intentions
Discussions about becoming a warmer church intersect with those about becoming safer and more inviting for marginalized groups. Exemplary rostered ministers and lay leaders in these spaces (who often represent marginalized groups themselves) stress the need for ELCA communities to go beyond lip service and address the practical realities of organizing this work. This might require a meaningful allocation of budget, additional staff support, robust training or developing metrics for success — particularly when ministry environments have thus far been shaped by a majority group or culture.
“Have a mechanism to actually effect change,” encourages Jennifer De Leon, director for racial justice in the Office of the Presiding Bishop. She describes seeing leaders and laity who receive resources and training grow in their competence and confidence to address prejudice, injustice and oppression.
The ELCA’s stated vision is that “all people and creation” would experience the difference of God’s grace and Christ’s love. Welcoming and including the “all” requires specific and intentional investment. As Aubrey Thonvold, executive director of ReconcilingWorks, says, “People won't know they are welcome unless you have named them in the invitation.”
