I’m writing another church series
and at the church I visited yesterday the usher team was on duty, helpful and all
the doors were covered. However, when it came to the time of congregational
greeting people seemed to congregate in small groups of friends and they
overlooked the people on the peripheral. Three people greeted me; however, it
was a matter of, “Hello, nice to see you” let’s shake hands and move on. No one
from the congregation engaged me in conversation, asked my name, or showed interest
in me as a person sitting on the back pew. I find this to be a good reminder
that is it not the sole responsibility of an usher to be the greeter. Jesus said,
“And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do
not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your
heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:47 NIV).
1 comment:
Gail;
-----Some amount of human nature must be forgiven. People are shy, I suppose for various reasons. But in addition, and maybe even more culpable than mere shyness, the worship service has come to be a “worship show”. And the people gathering for this show feel only slightly more obligation to greet newcomers to the theatre than the patrons of San Juan Cinema feel to greet each other. “We’re all just here for the show,” although, in the church show, this perception is slightly dampened by some songs to sing and maybe a liturgy or two to mutter. The worship service itself is even more responsible for folks’ hesitancy to greet strangers. It’s framed our minds with passivity. If we hope for more, the service must engage the “audience” into more activity.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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