Explore together what it means to be a welcoming church with this series of downloadable video Bible studies. Themes covered include being an outward facing community; loving difference; welcome on Sundays; welcoming those from other cultures and countries, as well as those with other capabilities and views; making space for others in our church life.
Most of us think our congregation is a welcoming place. But is it? How would we know? Who could tell us? What things, that seem familiar to us, might seem weird to others? What would it be like to come in as a visitor for the first time? Most importantly, what does it look like to welcome others as Christ welcomes us?
An overview of the eight sessions:
- An outward facing community: Genesis 18:1-15
- Not like us: 1 Corinthians 9:19-23
- On the door: Matthew 25:31-46
- Another culture: Ephesians 2:11-22
- Another country: Matthew 2:1-12
- Another capability: 2 Samuel 9:1-13
- Another view: Mark 10:17-27
- Making space for others: Luke 10:25-37
Using the resource
The resource has been designed to fit primarily in a midweek or small group setting, or an alternative Sunday evening gathering, but its format has been created to maximise flexibility of use:
- all eight sessions could be used sequentially in an eight week ‘course’ format
- each session should be capable of being used in a standalone way
- session three lends itself to standalone use in the particular area of training welcome teams
- four core sessions have been identified (1,2,3 and 8) and could form a shorter course
- four specialist sessions open up issues around welcoming particular groups (4,5,6 and 7). These could provide options to include or leave out, depending on the particular contexts of congregations and their specific, local challenges in mission. Equally, they could become standalone specialist sessions.
Videos
Videos to accompany this resource are free to download, but you are required to register first, which you can do below.