
Bishop Mariann Budde’s words directed to President Trump, calling on him to show mercy to immigrants, the LGBTQ+ and trans communities, and other targeted peoples, have shined considerable attention on The Episcopal Church.
Like seemingly everything else in America today, the biblical call to show mercy has been extremely politicized. This week, Bishop Budde and The Episcopal Church have become the face of that politicization.
The event has become a “moment” for our church. Similar to the “moment” when then-Presiding Bishop Michael Curry preached a sermon of love at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018, public attention has turned toward The Episcopal Church.
We’ll call this “The Budde Moment.”
This Sunday, your church may welcome people coming to The Episcopal Church out of curiosity, seeking a place of Christian refuge, perhaps people who have never felt welcome in church before.
You might also see people who were angered by Bishop Budde’s words, who want to voice that anger in some way.
For engaging with both these types of people, the biblical principles of evangelism, hospitality, and belonging—of Invite Welcome Connect—will serve you and your congregation well.
Greeters will welcome them and show them the important places—the worship space and the restrooms. We’ll get them welcome gifts and give children’s activity bags to the kids they bring.
If they’re unfamiliar with the service, a congregant may sit with them, show them how to follow along in the bulletin or the Book of Common Prayer, how to find the hymns in our hymnals.
The priest will explain the process of Communion, how all the baptized are welcome at Christ’s table, and what they can expect as they walk forward.
At the offering of the Peace, clergy and congregation will greet them, ask their names, and tell them how glad we are that they have come today.
After service, we will invite them to coffee hour, and sit with them, making sure they are not alone. We’ll answer their questions respectfully and fully.
If they’re glad of the words spoken by Bishop Budde, we’ll explain that The Episcopal Church welcomes all into the full communion of the church with love and acceptance, including them. If they’re angry about the words spoken by Bishop Budde, we’ll tell them the exact same thing, with the exact same level of love and welcome.
We’ll tell them about the groups and the activities our church has, and invite them to check it out. And we’ll ask them to come back next week or whenever they would like.
We’ll ask them to fill out the visitor information form and promise them we will follow up. And then we will. Within a day or two, a clergy member or a congregant will send a message—by email, text, video, or hand-written card—thanking them for visiting us, inviting them to come back, and offering to talk to them any time about their own spiritual journey or about The Episcopal Church.
In other words, we will greet all the visitors who come through our doors—the seeker and the sourpuss alike—with love and acceptance, with invitation and with welcome, helping to grow the kingdom of God by helping more people to find God.
We will transform the Budde Moment into a Gospel Moment.
___________________________________________________ Steve Welch is Executive Director of Invite Welcome Connect
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