Following from February’s get-together, here’s the official write-up from the URG:

URG DAY GATHERING: ‘WELLSPRINGS OF WELCOME’, held February 25th 2023
An online event attended by approximately 20 people.

Following opening worship we held a sequence of small group discus-sions in ‘break-out’ rooms to ponder questions on the theme of the day. The following consists of brief notes of main points arising from the discussions, the questions that we asked and the responses to the questions that came out.

“A church is a living fellowship
More than a holy shrine,
Where people can share their hopes and fear
Less of the yours and mine.”

Question 1. Why is it important that we welcome the stranger?

We are responding to the teachings of Jesus, ‘I was a stranger and you took me in.’ People have a need for acceptance. We expect to be enhanced and widened by the newcomer’s presence. Welcome ena-bles people to live better lives. We have something good to share and want to share it. We also need new volunteers. We must make the process of making the connection comfortable and easy. We think about their needs, and our own needs. The two are intertwined.

Question 2. What does your community do well, and what could it do better?

We do make everyone feel welcome. We discuss things openly. We could do more ‘non-Sunday stuff’, such as looking after the building, take care of the children’s corner. We all need to take our turn at welcoming people at the door, handing them a hymn book, helping at the serving hatch. Our administration could be better. Our outreach could be more effective, there could be more opportunities to speak in the worship service.

We should be careful with our use of language. We must talk to people who are on their own. We must ‘put ourselves in others’ shoes’. It is good to always have a printed Order of Service. We need a good website for people to view us before they come. We need hearing aid loops and easy access ramps. The minister [or worship leader] should give a warm welcome at the beginning of the service. Invite people to help. Welcome people of different ethnicities and understand that people have differing processing speeds.

Question 3. What needs are we best suited to meet?

We must be sure we can develop a safe space, especially for people who have been damaged by, say, extreme right-wing individuals. We offer freedom of thought. We recognise there are limits to our welcome. There are some needs, e.g. psychological, that we cannot deal with.

We can offer a welcome to those with a need for friendship, and have a need for a liberal religious community. There are folk who want to learn and explore religious beliefs and ideas, are looking for a place for prayer and singing, and want to help make the world a better place. We can’t offer much for people who want certainty! We are better with people who want to question and live with doubt. Some want to be given a job, like serving coffee. There are some who seek refuge from another denomination. Some need to be sustained in their uncertainty. Religion’s place in the world has shrunk, so where do people go for a spiritual community? A community that includes theists and non-theists.

“From you I receive,
To you I give,
Together we share
And by this, we live.”