News from Faith United Presbyterian Church

Faith United Presbyterian Church

Focus on Faith

September 9, 2010

What Do You Think?

What Does It Mean to "Welcome"?

This fall, we will offer an adult education class, "Welcome to the
Presbyterian Church." The class will explore various facets of living the
life of faith from a Presbyterian world view. This should be a wonderful opportunity for those new to our congregation, as well as those who have been around forever, to share their experiences. We hope this opportunity
will provide the participants new understandings and a deeper appreciation
for the richness of our tradition and our faith. But the title of the class
begs the question. "What does it mean to 'welcome' people, whether to the
Presbyterian Church or our congregation?"

Some would suggest, we must show friendship and hospitality to those who
find their way to our congregation. Others would suggest, we must be more intentional. From the beginning of Jesus' ministry, he sent his disciples into the world to share the good news of God's love and invite people to share the life of faith. In either case, we must ask ourselves, "what does
it mean to 'welcome' people once they are here?"

Certainly, the basics of human kindness are in order - greeting each other warmly, whether at church or around town; making an effort to get to know those we don't know well, especially those new to our congregation; speaking
kindly to one another, not participating in some of the mean-spirited
conversations which arise; and, taking a genuine interest in one another's welfare. But is there more?

On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to lead members of our presbytery in a discussion of our presbytery's mission, especially in the area of spiritual transformation. Over the past few years, our presbytery has sought to transition from a program oriented presbytery to a mission oriented presbytery. The group I was facilitating identified a number of ways such transformation was taking place in the presbytery and identified areas for future growth and transformation.

One area which received significant attention was working with the rising number of immigrant communities. Like
Monmouth, there are a number of communities in our presbytery, which are attracting people from a variety of countries and cultures to work in local
packing plants. How might we welcome these people, not only to our
community, but into our life together?

When I have raised this question related to the growing Hispanic community in Monmouth much of what I hear are concerns about bridging language, cultural and religious barriers. These concerns are not unfounded. We would need an outreach pastor, who speaks Spanish. We would need to change our worship to include Spanish language prayers and hymns. We would have to make significant changes. Is this what it means to be welcoming?

In the discussion on Tuesday, I discovered there is another large immigrant group working in our packing plants, as well. These are people coming from predominately French speaking countries in West Africa. What I learned on Tuesday was that many of these people are Presbyterian and looking for
Presbyterian
congregations in their new communities. They are intentionally seeking English speaking congregations so they may learn the English. They desire to become established in their new communities and develop
friendships in their faith communities. What might it mean for us to be a 'welcoming' congregation to these people?

Again, we would need to change. However, these are sisters and brothers who parents and grandparents may have been brought to Jesus Christ by the very missionaries Presbyterians
have supported for generations. Perhaps, even some who graduated from
Monmouth College. Do we not have an even greater responsibility to welcome these sisters and brothers in Christ?

My friends, I can't say, I have a lot of answers. Monmouth is changing. We have people and cultures represented today that were not here even a few years ago. We can either stand by and watch our community change or we may find ways to participate in the change to help our community be the best it can be. May God keep our hearts and minds open to the possibilities that lay before us to become even more welcoming than we are today.

See you in church!

Pastor Myers
revhaggis1@hotmail.com