A frequent question I receive is how do pastors regularly cast a vision for hospitality ministries for the church.
Particularly when they are in charge of casting vision for everything.
So I want to share with you another practice for growing your church’s hospitality.
(Read Practice #1: Review your Church Hospitality Ministries)
Practice #2: Regularly remind the Congregation.
In the last two weeks, I’ve heard two different sermons where pastors did this very effectively.
Let me share with you two principles I observed.
1. Reminder when preparing a big event
Many churches launch big events designed to attract new visitors.
This might be a new sermon series, or a seasonal event like
- Easter,
- Christmas, or
- Back to School.
In vision casting for the big event, one pastor openly talked about the people he was inviting (modeling personal invitations).
He reminded the congregation that he expected them
- to invite others themselves
- to welcome and introduce themselves to others
- to serve people with awesome and “above and beyond” hospitality.
The sermon itself was about how the church is a partner in evangelism.
This specific occasion in pastor’s sermon is inviting people to the new sermon series, where during the series, the gospel would be offered and explained.
To prepare the congregation, pastor gave a few minutes reminder about hospitality as a piece of that partnership.
He even included:
“I’m looking to you all to help welcome my guests, and those that you bring. We need your help. . . “
He boldly went on to say something like:
“If you have decided you don’t want to serve here and welcome people you don’t know, we don’t really want you here long term – we’re not simply here to consume a sermon, but to love and serve those whom God brings to us that they may find Christ, not a cold church.”
That may not sound loving as you read it – but it fit very well in the context of the sermon to recast a new vision for hospitality ministry.
It wasn’t judgmental, but a tremendous reminder of the value of hospitality.
2. Sermon illustration
The second preacher is teaching through the 7 letters to the churches in book of Revelation.
It’s part of a series of expository sermons.
While preaching on the church in Sardis, a church that needed to wake up because it got to comfortable with itself, Pastor shared some examples of how feared his church might fall asleep one day.
One of those examples related to welcoming a church visitor.
It came from actual stories that visitors shared with him about their experience with that church.
In less than 2 minutes, he effectively reminded the congregation of it’s role in serving and loving those visitors who come to church.
In a loving rebuke over a particular story, he called the congregation to a higher vision of welcoming the stranger.
Vision in less than 5 minutes
What impressed me about both sermons was that the hospitality related piece was under 5 minutes.
It was a minor part in a very short sermon (each was under 30 minutes).
Yet each was stated clearly enough, simply enough, and connected enough to the main point of the sermon that I was struck as a listener.
I felt invited to a greater cause: welcome the visitor.
I was reminded to meet someone I didn’t know.
I was reminded to think of others above myself before / during / and after the service.
Other possible places to recast vision
- Praise the congregation for their hospitality when new members join, particularly when the new members have said they stayed because of the welcome they received.
- Praise the congregation for it’s role in helping a person find faith and take baptism.
- Praise the congregation when you hear feedback of a great welcome
- Lovingly worded call for improvement when you hear feedback of an overlooked visitor.
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