Disclaimer... I'm sharing the below from having seen it many
times in the Sunday bulletin of First Presbyterian Church in Hudson Falls, NY,
where our presbytery member, Roger Martin, served as pastor years ago, and
where my son, Michael Plank, now is the pastor.
(Yes, the Presbyterian Church really is a small circle, isn't it?) It reminded me of the importance of asking
ourselves how open we really are to people coming to worship in our
congregations...
We extend a special welcome to those who are single,
married, divorced, gay, queer, trans, filthy rich, dirt poor, o no habla ingles. We extend a special welcome to those who are
crying newborns, hyperactive children, skinny as a rail, or could afford to
lose a few pounds.
We welcome you if you can sing like Andrea Bocelli or you
can't carry a tune in a bucket. You're
welcome here if you're "just browsing," just woke up, or just got out
of jail. We don't carry if you're a
cradle Presbyterian or have never heard the word "Presbyterian"
before today, haven't been to church in decades, and don't call yourself a
Christian.
We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not
grown up yet, and to kids who are growing up too fast. We welcome soccer moms, NASCAR dads, starving
artists, tree-huggers, latte-sippers, vegetarians, carnivores, and junk-food
eaters. We welcome those who are in recovery and those who are still
addicted. We welcome you if you're
having problems or you're down in the dumps or if you don't like organized religion. We've been there, too.
If you blew all your offering money at the race track,
you're welcome here. We offer a special
welcome to those who think the earth is flat, those who work too hard, those
who don't work, those who can't spell, or those who are here because Grandma is
in town and she wanted to go to church.
We welcome those who are inked, pierced, or both. We offer a special welcome to those who could
use a prayer right now, those who had religion shoved down their throats as a
kid, or you who got lost in traffic and wound up here by mistake.
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