[Magdalen] Calvary, Pittsburgh

[Scott Knitter]

Agreed, and that's exactly why I don't like it when someone -- a
speaker at a convention, or someone on Facebook, or a blogger -- goes
overboard in beating parishioners over the head for a lack of
welcoming. Some of that is deserved if it's active ignoring or
shirking the duty to look for and simply welcome newcomers, but I
think we all know people who've visited a church and found it
wonderful in that they weren't singled out or made a point of
attention, and someone else visits the same church and finds it
repulsively unwelcoming.

Maybe St. Luke's ELCA here in Chicago does it right: I cringed when
they invited newcomers to raise hands, but I stopped cringing when
they said they'd like to welcome us with a free coffee mug and a
booklet about the church. My hand shot up for the mug! :)

In our own parish, I think we could do a lot better with being aware
of when intra-parish business conversations at coffee hour are keeping
us unaware of visitors to greet. And when such conversations are
blocking doorways and inviting visitors to give up and leave before
even being able to enter the coffee hour to which the rector had
warmly invited them. People really stand around like oafs right where
people need room to get through.

I liked a welcome i received long ago at Christ Church Cranbrook...I
was in a mood to be anonymous and did an end run around the obligatory
receiving line to be greeted by the clergy. The rector, as I made my
move, was able to suspend his attention to a conversation long enough
to reach out and touch my shoulder and thank me for coming and ask me
to come back again, and gave me his blessing, all in a
non-overwhelming twinkling of an eye. I didn't feel put upon but felt
very appreciated and welcomed just by that gesture of attention.

On Sun, Jun 14, 2015 at 9:09 PM, James Oppenheimer-Crawford
<oppenheimerjw at gmail.com> wrote:
> I would not be sure what to do either, since I've run into people who are
> interested in anonymity in church, and actively don't want anyone to
> intrude on them. And there are those who are put off if they are not fully
> greeted.  It's the luck of the draw, but no matter what we do, we can't
> win.  And with a general hesitation to approach strangers, the average
> person is probably going to get a less than hearty reception.
>
> I sometimes wish they would just put badges at the door.
> "I would love to be greeted" in bright green
> "God's peace to you, but please leave me in it." with a black band around
> the badge.
>
> James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
> *“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
> except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy
>
> On Sun, Jun 14, 2015 at 5:38 PM, ROGER STOKES <roger.stokes65 at btinternet.com
>> wrote:
>
>> Following recommendations from listren I went to the 11 o'clock Eucharist
>> at Calvary this morning, and I have to admit some disappointment. I know
>> it's Summer and I don't know if the Pittsburgh Pride Procession had
>> anything to do with it but I felt the service was distinctly low key.  The
>> bulletin said the Curate would be the celebrant but in fact the Assisting
>> Priest doubled in that role as well as being homilist.
>>
>> There were just two other robed people in the altar party, one of them
>> being the crucifer.  At the end of the service he followed the priest and
>> the other server to the West End of the church rather than preceding her.
>> A few people did say "Good Morning" to me but nobody invited me to Coffee
>> Hour.  A stranger in a clerical collar sitting in the congregation,
>> wouldn't you assume they were a visitor and somebody would strike up a
>> conversation?
>> Based on that experience I would not return if I were to be in Pittsburgh
>> again.  I will see what happens when I roll up at a different church next
>> Sunday.
>> Roger
>>



-- 
Scott R. Knitter
Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA