Let Every Heart Prepare Room! Hospitality and Warmth at Christmastime
It is not a secret that this week is actually the full week for Christmas preparations! As bulletins are prepared and printed, communion visits are made, choirs rehearse, and poinsettias placed - here are a few questions to get you thinking about hospitality for new worshippers who may visit you this Christmas.
Website review: Does your website clearly say what time Christmas eve and Christmas day worship will take place? Are worship times consistent in all of the places they may be listed? Are they easy to find? Is your physical address easily found for those who might use a map app or GPS? Have you clearly stated how Sunday's worship times may be different because of Christmas Day?
Signs: Have you considered physical signage to invite your neighbors? (Door hangers, road signs, digital billboards, etc...) What about physical signage that welcomes, tells someone where to find a bathroom, etc...
Young people: How might you especially engage and include young people, children, parents, and families in worship this Christmas?
Cultivating warmth and invitation: What plans might you make to prepare ushers, greeters, and members to cultivate warmth in community - especially for those unfamiliar with Lutheran worship or church? This might mean some intentional reshaping (or doing away with) church inside jokes like (“Christmas and Easter People” or CEO’s - “Christmas Easter Others”). What kind of welcome might help a person learn more about your mission and ministry and encourage them to come back or dive deeper? (Could something as simple as a card with worship and contact be added to the pews? Etc…)
