The tagline on our website says, “All are welcome… there is a place for you here.” I’ve always thought of Peace as a welcoming congregation. We even have a volunteer Guest/Member Coordinator who’s job it is to make every guest feel welcome at worship. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we have been having guests as worship regularly. We also received 9 new members in June. That is great news!

This past Sunday we had two first time guests. Our Guest/Member Coordinator did her job and greeted them warmly. However, that seemed to be it. Unless I missed it, I didn’t see one person go and greet them as they sat alone in the pew waiting for worship to begin. You might used COVID as an excuse to not get close to people, but what’s wrong with staying a few feet away and make a point of saying, “hi”? I often see groups of members chatting away before and after worship. I mean that’s part of why we gather together isn’t it? But, if we want our congregation to grow, we have to pay attention to those who God is bringing into our midst. There may even be people who have been members for quite awhile and you don’t know their name. We can do better!

This coming Sunday if there is someone you don’t know, I challenge you to stop and at least say “hi.” Then keep it up each week until you know all the people you are worshipping with. If we say, “All are welcome… there is a place for you here”, let’s show that we really mean it!

See you Sunday!