Still in One Peace – September 30, 2026 – Blog
Weekly Conversations with Pastor Jeff
This week, I want to follow up and give some practical ways “Radical Hospitality,” can be practiced on a Sunday morning or whenever we gather for worship. As you may have heard me say, my favorite definition of hospitality is, “Treating people like they belong, before they belong, until they belong.” This is rooted in the words of St. Paul, “Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed us.” (Romans 15:7).
At the seminar I attended in Dallas recently, one of our presenters reminded us that we need to remind ourselves and our congregations how easy it is to be friendly with the people we know and forget about the people who are new. He had an easy way to keep this aspect of hospitality in mind when we gather for worship: 5, 10 and Link.
Spend 5 minutes before and after worship looking for people whom you don’t know and introduce yourself. Please note that it is five minutes before and after. He emphasized that greeting after worship is extremely important because the last memory tends to be what people take with them. This is one of the reasons why we hold hands at the end of worship, so we create a meaningful connection with the people around us.
Look for the people 10 feet around you and notice if they are alone or nobody seems to be engaging them, regardless of whether you know them or not.
The LINK: connect them to someone whom you know who an important link because of age or stage in life, vocation/career, or life circumstances may be. Sometimes, the links we make are life changing. It helps us know we are not alone, most especially if we walking through the valley for one reason or another.
5, 10 and LINK. If you are like me, “tools” can be helpful for intentional acts of hospitality.
One Sunday, after worship, I greeted a person whom I had not seen at Chapel Hill before. She said, “Thank you for greeting me. I have been ‘church shopping’ and you have no idea how unfriendly churches can be.'” I was rather surprised and apologized for the Body of Christ that she had not been welcomed well.
Let’s keep practicing Radical Hospitality because it truly is a means of grace for the needs of our lives.
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