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Ministry of Hospitality and Welcoming
A welcoming community is the heart of an evangelizing parish. If and when hospitality is authentic, dynamic and vibrant in our parishes, we are better able to extend ourselves in welcome to those who join us at Eucharist, and to those who feel alienated, marginal and unwelcome. Ultimately, hospitality and mutual respect are catalysts for the conversion and transformation of our culture and global society.
The basic reason Catholic Christians are called to extend hospitality is that it is an expression of love. Hospitality is first an attitude; the attitude of servant, of foot washer. It is also an environment. It involves creating a warm, welcoming space for people. Hospitality is also an action – the willingness to be open, receptive and responsive to people – to reach beyond ourselves, beyond our fears and stereotypes.
Hospitality is more than just shaking hands before Sunday liturgy. It is to be a way of life for each of us. Hospitality includes a welcoming spirit at liturgy that is carried into the broader community.
When hospitality permeates the whole of parish life, we become a welcoming community. We develop a sense of mission characterized by an attitude of being hospitable in all that we do. We evolve into a community that invites all people to hear the message of salvation in Jesus Christ. We serve the Body of Christ when we extend ourselves to our brothers and sisters in love and generous self-giving.
Many programs and books exist to guide you in your efforts. What follows is a partial list of publications available from the Office of Evangelization.
Neighborhood
Ministry Basics: A No-nonsense Guide.
Paul Cook and Judith Zeiler, The Pastoral Press, Washington, DC,
1986. $7.95
Reach out to all the members of your parish community. Share the responsibility of one-to-one ministry with a group that makes such ministry a reality. Neighborhood Ministry Basics shows you step by step how to renew and revitalize your worship community, welcome the return of members, and strengthen the bonds that unite your parish family.
Christian
Hospitality: A Handbook for Parishes.
Evangelization Ministry, Archdiocese of Louisville, Louisville, KY,
2002. $9.50
This handbook has been a success with parishes that are intent upon improving their spirit of welcome. The newest chapter on intercultural hospitality combines with updated information on the theology of welcome, liturgical hospitality, welcoming people with disabilities and reaching out to welcome all people to form the recently revised handbook. Practical suggestions and models of successful welcoming committees are also included.
Guide for Ushers &
Greeters.
The ministry of the usher has been with us for as long as we can remember. Fr. Mick links ushering with the ministry of greeting, because these two together contribute to the overall ministry of hospitality. The author suggests ways of dealing with difficult situations and people, as well as with disruptions and emergencies. He prepares the ushers for their role before people start arriving, during the liturgy itself and as people are leaving the worship space.
Because ushers also often work with those who process with the gifts to the alter for the liturgy of the eucharist, this book also teaches us about the ministry of bringing up the gifts, what this means and how gift bearers can prepare for their task.
The Ministry of Hospitality.
Before Vatican Council II we probably would not have discussed a Ministry of Hospitality. Mere physical presence seemed to be all that was required of us, although we knew, even then, that worship and church life called us to much more than that. As we examine the many ministries that have emerged in the Church in our time, we discover how important hospitality is to all of the works in which we are involved. Hospitality is part of the foundation on which all of the ministries are built.
Ministers of the Lord's
Presence: Reflection and Prayer for Liturgical Ministers.
Ushers'/Greeters' Edition.
The Christian community is not only a network of friends but a community that reaches out to embrace the stranger. Like the father of the Prodigal Son, the role of the usher is to welcome home those who come to share the Good News. The ushers are ministers who make ridiculous the world's assumptions about strangers and enemies and extend the Lord's own welcome. This booklet of prayers, reflections and history will help all ministers of hospitality appreciate more fully their unique ministry of helping their brothers and sisters prepare for a joyful and prayerful celebration of the Eucharist.
Keep the flame of faith alive in your heart.
Baptismal Rite