Last month, we were invited to change lives through the many ministries we do here at First Lutheran. The ministries highlighted are so very important to those in our congregation and in the world. I would also like to invite you to change lives in simple ways within our narthex. Our narthex during the program year is abuzz with activity and people of all ages. The energy in our narthex amazes me. We have so many people coming and going, making connection with one another ,but there are even more who are not and feeling a bit lost within the hub of activity in our narthex.

I would love to have our narthex become a hub of hospitality, where people are helping each other connect with one another and those feeling a bit overwhelmed are helped. It would be great to have people in the narthex before and after worship to help people connect with each other. They would help connect parents of young children with other parents of young children. We could connect our retired or almost retired people with those who participate in the OWLS, our older wiser Lutherans. We could invite a visitor to have coffee with us. If someone needed help getting their winter coat on, we would be there to assist or help a parent with their children’s coats. If someone looked lost, we would offer help. These are only a few examples of how we can be a hub of hospitality in our narthex.

To make this happen, we need a few people between worship services to  mill around the narthex and mingle with people while watching to see if they can be of assistance to those around them. Our minglers could take people to the welcome center to introduce them to the people who who could answer almost any question they would have. Our minglers could also bring visitors to the welcome center to receive a welcome packet and then invite them to have coffee. We are all called to welcome those God has sent to us, those we know and those we don’t know yet. As Romans 15:7 says, “Welcome one another, therefore just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” If every single one of us welcomed one another and someone we don’t know, we would create a hub of hospitality that would glorify God with the love we would show for each other.

Help me create this hub of hospitality and love by mingling with those coming and going in our narthex. Look around for people who may need assistance, greet someone you don’t know and someone you do know. This might take some practice to look beyond ourselves and those we know to notice the people God brings into our church. All those who come into our church should feel the love of God before they leave.

Please help me make our narthex a hub of hospitality. Join the minglers team by emailing me at kathryn@firstlu.org. I would love to hear from you.