Welcoming is more than just a greeting at the door. It goes from the door to sitting with someone and getting a cup of tea, to starting to build relationships.
This Black History Month we are focusing on some of the areas that our Racial Diversity Group have discussed as key areas that we can all explore to improve on to encourage more diversity in our churches.
This week’s theme is welcome. Many churches welcome people at the door, but what happens next? And can we make it easier for people to come to our doors? Does welcome look different in different cultures and how can we reflect that?
Alwyn Pereira said: “Welcoming is a big part of church life, and of course so much of welcoming doesn’t take place at the door to church but at the gates and outside. Most people have to walk the intimidating path to the door and cross the threshold. It’s important to have many different types, and routes, and pathways into the church community.”
Coffee groups, toddler groups, working with the schools and school communities are ways to create relationship and make it easier for people to walk into a church.
Worship looks different in different cultures. Judah Garrison, Parish Worker at St John’s Egham, explains that in Jamaican culture worship is expressive and includes the whole body. Worship songs include lament: “life is rocky, the road is hard, but people are dancing through that. Somehow through that movement people are overcoming their problems.” And there are people who worship in stillness and quietness. Appreciating these differences and giving space for diversity in the kingdom creates space for all to be welcomed and appreciated.
Janet Williams said: “Something that is so unfamiliar to me, I’ve been able to get such blessing from and we can take much further…I’d like to see more international styles of services, we can learn something from an African song or a traditional hymn. There need to be opportunities from different cultures that help unite us and remind us that we are all God’s children.”
This week, as you watch our Black History Month film on Welcome, think about what you can do to make your church more welcoming to all sorts of different people with different backgrounds, needs and wants.
Explore more of what you can do to help people from diverse backgrounds be more welcome in your church explore our anti-racism toolkit.