Vital Posts / Hospitality

Browse


Related

  • Practicing Our Slogan ✓
    “The Episcopal Church welcomes you!” That’s our deal, right? We’re welcoming. Or not so much. Now that I’m not serving in a parish, I have been visiting lots of Episcopal congregations. It’s been illuminating, both in good and in troublin…
  • Quiénes son nuevos y quiénes faltan ✓
    Click here for an English version of this article. Todos los lunes, cuatro de nosotros nos reunimos por media hora y realizamos un ejercicio llamado “Quiénes son nuevos y quiénes faltan”. Es una verificación rápida al día siguiente de l…
  • Who’s New and Who’s Missing ✓
    Click here for a Spanish version of this blog post.  Each Monday for a half-hour four of us gather and go through an exercise called “Who’s New and Who’s Missing.” It is a quick check-in the day following worship services to keep us mind…
  • Telling a Story Through Liturgy
    On Good Friday I went to church for an hour and a half. Being a three-hour service I skipped a good portion of it, but as the church website explained, worshippers were welcome to come and go as their schedules permitted. I have to confess I left e…
  • Taking Shelter
    Why does it take the worst to bring out the best? Tragedy in the form of super-cell tornados ripped through southern Indiana, Kentucky, and small towns across the south. TV news and the Internet swarmed with devastating pictures of homes redu…
  • Editor’s Letter - February 2012
    Greetings. One of the joys of my role as editor of ECF Vital Practices is the discovery of resources to share through this website. Each day I comb through email messages, online publications, Facebook, as well as a variety of websites and prin…
  • Ugandan Hospitality
    In the four days that I have been in Nakiwogo, Uganda, I have already visited in the homes of 14 members of St. Stephen’s Church. At every home, I am offered wonderful hospitality with snacks and water or soft drinks provided. Last evening, I fea…
  • Will You Give Me a Hand?
    Like most people, I like to be helpful, and I’m usually happy, and sometimes flattered, when I’m asked to give someone a hand. Perhaps this is the reason I keep showing up at St. Lydia’s. I arrived one Sunday and I was immediately put to work…
  • Seeing Jesus
    As we parked, my daughter whispered: “I hope I make at least one friend today.” My husband and I exchanged the glance that roughly translates into our willingness to cut off an arm so that this could happen. “You will,” we reassur…
  • Easier Hospitality
    There are few things lonelier than standing alone in a parish hall during coffee hour, sipping coffee and hoping someone will speak to you. If you’ve stuck around after church for coffee hour, then it’s probably because you want to meet people …
  • Nametags: Opposites attract
    If you’re still debating the merits of nametags, then this post isn’t for you. I’m a fan. I think nametags are a sign of welcome to visitors, making it easier for them to focus on conversation instead of imprinting names into memory. …
  • A Leopard and its Spots
    “This is no place for children.” The usher clucked, then shook his head and muttered a few other dismissals. Heat rose from the pit of my stomach, filled my chest and sucked out the joy. I held to the hand of our 2-year-old daughter…
  • Making Room
    At the time, I didn’t think much about it. But when we left the church two years later, the woman stood up and shared the story.  On her first visit to the church, she was bewildered. It had been a long time since she sat in a pew – and nev…
  • Our Very Own Christmas Special
    Here's a guilty pleasure: Christmas specials.  I like them on TV (Rudoph the Red Nosed Reindeer and A Charlie Brown Christmas come to mind) and I especially like them as desserts. "I'll have five of Santa's Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies, tha…
  • The Spanglish Congregation
    NPR is currently doing an excellent series on how Latinos, the U.S.’ largest minority group, is “making their mark on religion, technology, education, Hollywood and the workplace.” There are many good stories in this series, but I believe tw…
  • Generosity (of Spirit)
    “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous? So the last will be first and the first will be last.” (Matthew 20:14-16) This is the end of the parable about the vineyard owner and th…
  • Vacation with a Difference
    Here was my job this week. On behalf of the diocese, I led Vacation With a Difference, five days of relaxation at our diocesan retreat center, the St. Andrew’s House Conference Center. A dozen people came to the most beautiful place on earth …
  • Inspiring Intersections
    One thing we’ve learned about disasters – in addition to the fear, suffering and disruption on lives and communities – is the ability of people to pull together in powerful ways. I learned this on September 12, 2001 when church leaders, n…
  • Shabbat Shalom
    Two Fridays ago, I found myself walking through the doors of an Episcopal Church to attend a Shabbat service with friends.  Let me clarify...  Two friends recently invited me to attend a Shabbat service at their synagogue Congregatio…
  • To (Name) Tag or Not to Tag?
    Name tags are for the church that plans to welcome new people. If your church is already the perfect size, then there’s no need to read further. Close the doors and issue passwords to members. But if you believe that living out your f…
  • Struggling to Become a Multicultural Church
    A number of ECF Vital Practices readers have recently requested resources on how predominantly white, English-speaking congregations can become more multicultural. I believe that the above video may serve …
  • "Make Yourself at Home"
    “Make yourself at home.” I’ve heard, and uttered, this phrase thousands of time in my life. And, depending on the situation, I either follow through or I don’t, my actions guided by the intangible ‘vibes’ my senses pick up. I sto…
  • Editor's Letter: Caring for Each Other
    This month Vestry Papers continues to explore the theme Caring for Each Other, with a special focus on caring for the newcomer in our midst and the ways we care for ourselves as a congregation so as to maintain – or restore – our vitality. …
  • Being Welcoming
    Last week I had a long conversation with the rector of a thriving urban parish with approximately 700 members and no full time staff, other than the rector. “What’s the secret to your success?” I asked. I never received a direct answer to …
  • I’m Going to Sing ‘til the Spirit Moves My Heart
    The performers at Friday night’s cabaret-style fundraiser sang their hearts out. I’m gonna sing ‘till the Spirit moves in my heart I’m gonna sing ‘till Jesus comes These musicians and singers gifted the audience with an ev…
  • Undercover Rector: Coffee and Conversation
    Coffee hour can be a lonely place. In this episode of Undercover Rector, the priest is disguised as a visitor. The greeters, having watched previous episodes of Undercover Rector, have graciously invited the visitor to coffee hour. The worshi…
  • A Taste of Heaven
    Easter dinner doesn’t normally make me feel holy. Happy? Yes. Full to the brim with succulent ham, dumplings, green beans and three-layer chocolate cake? Yes, definitely. But holy? Not so much. That normally happens during the triumph…
  • Episode II, Undercover Rector: LOL
    I saw a post on Facebook the other day about a friend’s father who had taken a turn for the worse. Another friend posted, “Prayers heading your way. LOL.” Wait a minute. I thought LOL meant laughing out loud. I’m guessing (hoping) thi…
  • Undercover Rector
    I’d love to see an episode of Undercover Rector. Taking a cue from reality TV, the rectors would cast off the alb, dye their hair and magically  transform into someone unrecognizable. They would visit the church a few times during the week, …
  • Blessing (and welcoming) the bikes
    What would you do if a bunch of bicyclists rolled their wheels up to the front of your sanctuary? Would you bless them? For the past 13 years, St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York City has welcomed bicyclists for an annual Bless…
  • The Ides of March, George Clooney, and the Episcopal Church
    A new sign hangs in the fellowship hall of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, located in the college town of Oxford, Ohio. “George Clooney ate here.” During the first week of March, cast and crew for a movie, “The Ides of March,” fi…
  • Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler!
    Reason #1,678 why I love the Episcopal Church: We like a good time. Episcopal churches across are gearing up for Mardi Gras. We’ll spend the next six weeks of Lent in prayer and reflection; some will fast, others will make a sacramental c…
  • Academy Awards and Church Announcements: Time to Cue the Orchestra
    How many of you have sat through announcements in church, wishing you could treat them like acceptance speeches at the Oscars? When they get too long – or boring, you could cue the orchestra (or organ) music, and the teen daughter of a cele…
  • Loving ‘Us’
    There’s been a Valentine’s Day ad running on local TV stations, urging people to “love 'us'.” The featured vignettes show people in different stages of relationship, all sharing a card to celebrate St. Valentine’s Day. Yesterday we ce…
  • Sharing Love Stories
    Most of the time, building community happens in the background. But every once in a while, the connections are so tangible, the relationship building so apparent, that it’s as if the Holy Spirit employed bricklayers and brought the mortar.  Fo…
  • The Most Fun You Ever Had in Church
    For a guy who hears a lot “you’re really fun – for a priest" I felt upstaged a bit when a local mega-church cancelled services and put the Seattle-Chicago NFL game up on their big screens this past Sunday morning. This story made it on the T.…
  • Las Posadas
    Though I didn't realize it at the time, I grew up celebrating a Reader's Digest version of Las Posadas. In Mexico and Guatemala, Las Posadas celebrations involve an elaborate pilgrimage, complete with statues of Mary and Joseph, wherein townfolk we…
  • How not to win friends and impress visitors
    Visitor frenzy kicks in high gear over the next two weeks, as newcomers and rarely-seen-ers attend Christmas services.  Welcoming visitors is a ministry -- and not everyone has the gift. Consider these true -- but don’t-try-this-at-home…
  • Preparar el terreno… para visitantes
    El fin de semana pasada, durante la cena, una amiga se quejó sobre lo difícil que era encontrar un buen lugar para ir con sus padres a un servicio religioso la Víspera de Navidad. Ella, que ni es episcopal ni va regularmente a la iglesia, es una…
  • Prepare the Way...For Visitors
    Click here for a Spanish translation of this article. Last weekend, over dinner, a friend bemoaned how hard it was to find a good place to go for a Christmas Eve service with her parents. Neither an Episcopalian nor a regular churchgoer, she is …
  • Winter Shelter
    I regularly commute by bike to work. The hour-long ride gives me a chance to see details of the city I’d otherwise miss: the older women practicing Tai Chi in a park; the amber sunrises seen as I pedal along the curves of the East River. Of course …
  • A Thanksgiving Feast - The Religious Kind
    Episcopalians corner the market on Thanksgiving. Sure, everyone across the United States celebrates Thanksgiving in some way, from cranberries and turkey dinners to lazy afternoons watching football and parades to studious planning of Black F…
  • The Mustard Seed
    A chance meeting at a jewelry party reminded me that I should have gone to church. I don’t sleep in on Sunday mornings very often. I’m a clergy spouse and a diocesan staff member and mother of two kids who love hanging out with their chur…
  • Tree of Life
    I spent the Saturday night before our All Saints celebration as the stage manager for an event at our cathedral entitled, “A Celebration of the Tree of Life in the Time of the Great Turning.” It was an incredible event anchored by a talk by Joa…