Welcome Aboard

I've had a chance to spend time with several different churches over the last two months. I encountered things to learn from each of them. Some were better at hospitality than others. As an introvert and a first time worshipper in virtually each place, I was especially alert to this. With great preaching, energetic and creative worship, state-of-the art technology, and everything else churches add to perfect what they offer, I've had the sense that most churches are, at best, just above adequate as hospitality.

So I considered what exactly I'm seeking as a total stranger that would counteract that awkward, isolated state of feeling like the one unknown person in a large room full of people who know each other, or who at least come often enough to feel some sense of comfort. Then I realized where I've felt the welcomeness that overcomes my uneasiness and makes me more open to the experience being offered...the Branson Belle.

Yes, the dinner theater showboat experience on Table Rock Lake near Branson, Missouri. The "welcome aboard" experience starts on land, extends through the walkway leading up to the boat, then to the captain's welcome on deck, on to the welcomer outside the dining area, and finally to the waiter or waitress who guides you to your seat, thanks you for coming, explains what's coming up, and serves you. The staff of the Belle assume that everyone is there for the first time, whether it actually is your first time on the Belle, or you take the dinner tour every time you go to Branson. That creates a level playing field, with no one favored and no one left out. Even if you have been on the boat before, you've never been to that particular show performed that way with that group of people there. So, everyone is a first time guest.

One church I have experienced creates this same environment. You get the feeling that they assume everyone is there for the first time. Even if you've been there before, they act as if no one has ever been to that worship, done in that way, with that particular emphasis and message and that certain opportunity to meet Jesus. So, everyone, from the lifelong member to the shy new person is a first time guest, and everything in their greeting, facility, and worship reflects that assumption.

That's hospitality. Welcome aboard. I'll see you around the next bend in the river.