Week 10

Given to Hospitality by D. Hardy Ashbury

The author's premise is that hospitality should never be limited to the first visit, month, or even year of a person's journey with a worshipping community. Hospitality must be part of everything the community does and its ultimate goal is the building of relationships, with Christ and within the community. In her introduction, the author says that hospitality is the major determinate in whether visitors return and eventually become assimilated as vital and productive church members. Like other authors, she believes hospitality must be genuine. When hospitality is anything else, it can act as a repellent driving away those we most hope to engage.

Offering numerous scriptural references that express how critical hospitality is to relationship building, and the work of salvation, the author examines what she calls the seven levels of involvement and the minimum depth of hospitality needed to help a person progress from one level to the next. The ultimate goal for the author, is to have the community engage the person who is seeking so to build a relationship that leads then them to a relationship with Christ. As relationships deepen, so too does a person's commitment to Christ and the community. The depth of commitment envisioned is not just regular Sunday attendance, but a life that helps draw others into relationship so that they too may know salvation in and through Jesus Christ. The seven levels of involvement are:

7. Commitment (Ministry)

6. Education (Lay Minister Training)

5. Cooperation (Volunteers Services)

4. Participation (Begins friendships)

3. Evaluation (Checking validity of what they find)

2. Investigation (Learning what is being offered)

1. Consideration (Initial Visit, Seeker)

Everyone starts out seeking. What they are seeking, they don't often know, they just know that something is missing. First impressions are critical in this level. Whether it is the website, the church appearance, the greeter at the door, the music, or the message preached, if they do not feel invited by what they see or hear, they will keep looking. It is hard to overcome first impressions if they are less than welcoming.

Should they decide to return, next comes the investigation level. This level is where the person begins to explore what is being offered. Questions often asked at this stage include, was the first impression valid, and what does the community offer the individual. Proclamation of salvation is important, hope is essential, but most people who are seeking aren't initially looking for this, they are looking to fill a void in their lives with something tangible long before they are able to see this void is filled by something more spiritual (a relationship with Christ). Invitation is an important tool of hospitality at this level as the person must feel welcome to participate in what they find or to ask questions.

Once an invitation has been accepted, the next level is evaluation. Does what they experience measure up to their expectations (regardless if they are self-imposed or promoted). Is what they find genuine, does it meet their need, does it challenge them to continue their journey? This is the level trust develops and relationships begin. If the answers found feel more like hoops to jump through, than a shared experience, or they feel like they are being asked to do something they can see other members are not doing, then the person is unlikely to move any deeper in their involvement.

Should a connection be made (the author suggests at least three connections or relationships) then the chances a person will move from evaluation to participation increase dramatically. A problem many communities face is that once a person enters this level, the community begins to see them as a member and it focuses its attention on the next person. People can spend much of their lives at this level, operating on the fringe of parish life. They may help with a soup kitchen, donate during clothing drives, maybe even help with the maintenance of the building, but unless their relationship with fellow parishioners begins to guide them into relationship with Christ, they will not be able to make the transition to the next level.

Once a person begins to develop their relationship with Christ, there is a sense that they will begin to move of giving something to giving of themselves. This is known as the cooperation level. In this level, the person begins to discover their gifts and explores how they might be used. The cooperation is between the individual and the Holy Spirit. With the right encouragement, through the relationships already developed, the person looks beyond themselves and the personal satisfaction of their efforts to genuine service to others on behalf of Christ. The trust that has developed enables them to let go of their own needs so that they are better able to embrace the needs of others.

Individual efforts in the cooperation level, while growing in diversity and meaning, may still be somewhat superficial in nature. Yes, they are deepening their relationship with Christ and they are serving in ways that they might not have envisioned earlier in their journey. However, it is in the education level that they really learn about ministry. It is imperative that people be given the opportunity, in a save and welcoming environment, to struggle with the differences between service to God and service to self. In this level, the training offered should help the person find the place their gifts meet the greatest need. Once they have found their niche, the next experience they will encounter is seeing the difference God is making (thought them) in the lives of others.

Seeing what God is doing through them, a person moves from being a servant to being a disciple. It is at this level a person makes a commitment, not just to the community, but to Christ. "Newcomers cannot ascend the seven levels of involvement without help and encouragement" from others. The author believes that genuine hospitality enables a person to ascend the first six levels in about six months. While the step to the last level is dependent upon the Holy Spirit, an environment that surrounds a person with visible and real examples of what this commitment looks like is made possible when hospitality permeates each and everything the community does.

The path from consideration to membership will be different for each worshipping community. However, to help the newcomer navigate it, the path should be clearly identified and be one that all members follow. Along their journey, the newcomer must feel welcomed where they find themselves and invited to take the next step in faith.