• Home
  • Sundays
    • What to Expect
    • Connect
    • Prayer
  • Who We Are
    • Council & Staff
    • Bethel's Story
    • Mission and Vision
    • Contact us
  • Summer
  • Ministries
    • Alpha
    • Bethel Kids
    • Dove Taekwondo
    • Men's Ministry
    • Prayer Ministry >
      • 24/7 Prayer
    • Small Groups
    • WillowWood Preschool
    • Women's Ministry
    • World Missions >
      • Bettesu Village
    • Youth Ministry
    • Young Adults Ministry
  • Media
    • Sermon Notes
    • Podcasts
    • RightNow Media
    • Pastor's Corner
    • Bulletin and Community News
  • Give
  • Grow
    • Growth Path
    • Reading Scripture Together >
      • Bible Reading Resources
    • Bible Studies >
      • The Resilient Life
      • Lent 2021
      • Kids Sermon Series
      • It Is Written
      • Roots
    • Porn Recovery and Prevention Resources
  • Serve
  • Employment
Bethel Community Church
  • Home
  • Sundays
    • What to Expect
    • Connect
    • Prayer
  • Who We Are
    • Council & Staff
    • Bethel's Story
    • Mission and Vision
    • Contact us
  • Summer
  • Ministries
    • Alpha
    • Bethel Kids
    • Dove Taekwondo
    • Men's Ministry
    • Prayer Ministry >
      • 24/7 Prayer
    • Small Groups
    • WillowWood Preschool
    • Women's Ministry
    • World Missions >
      • Bettesu Village
    • Youth Ministry
    • Young Adults Ministry
  • Media
    • Sermon Notes
    • Podcasts
    • RightNow Media
    • Pastor's Corner
    • Bulletin and Community News
  • Give
  • Grow
    • Growth Path
    • Reading Scripture Together >
      • Bible Reading Resources
    • Bible Studies >
      • The Resilient Life
      • Lent 2021
      • Kids Sermon Series
      • It Is Written
      • Roots
    • Porn Recovery and Prevention Resources
  • Serve
  • Employment

​A CULTURE OF WELCOME AT BETHEL

1/27/2017

 
Picture
​A CULTURE OF WELCOME AT BETHEL
About 20 people attended a special meeting held at Bethel last Wednesday evening.  The meeting was all about deepening the culture of welcome at Bethel Church.  These 20 or so people were being recruited to be “fire-spreaders.”  Their job is to reach out to those who need to be welcomed and to get us all to do the same.

The initiative has come about because of something really good that his already happening at Bethel.  We have been hearing encouraging reports from people who have felt warmly welcomed when they visited Bethel on a Sunday morning.  Many others have said that they have experienced Bethel to be a “welcoming church.” 

It is wonderful to hear these things said; yet still, there are Sundays when I will notice guests, or even, fellow church members standing alone in the foyer after church or during connect time, excluded from the cheerful circles of conversation all around them. 

The approximately 20 people who gathered last week were challenged with this simple goal:  no one is to stand alone.  They have committed to keeping a look out for anyone relegated to the sidelines.  They are to welcome them, but they are to do something more and this is where you come in.  They are to involve us all in the welcoming process.

They may do this by introducing us to a guest with whom they have been speaking (perhaps because they have discovered a common interest we share with that guest).  Or, they may give us a friendly reminder—if they find that we have fallen into comfortable conversation without noticing that there is someone standing nearby us who is alone.

Our goal of being a welcoming church is very counter cultural and very Christ-like.  It is counter cultural because we are not leaving the welcoming process to a trained few, and also because there is no ulterior motive behind our efforts.  Our aim is simply to help people feel at home.  (We are not trying to sell them anything.)  It is Christ-like, because Christ died for all people, and we reflect His love when our welcome is as all-encompassing as his.

So will you join in this effort by making sure that those around you feel welcome?  I am confident you will, so let me thank you in advance!  Let’s deepen the culture of welcome at Bethel till it can truly be said of us that we are a church where no one stands alone. -- Pastor Tom
 



Comments are closed.

    Pastor's Corner

    Come here for news on what is happening in Bethel Church from our Pastors.

    Archives

    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    RSS Feed

Who We Are
Bethel's Story
Mission & Vision
Council & Staff
Beliefs
Employment
Ministries
Men
Women
​​WillowWood Preschool 
Youth

Young Adults
Contact Us
Submit

© Bethel Community Church 2022. All Rights Reserved. 
Cover Image by Philip Toruno

  • Home
  • Sundays
    • What to Expect
    • Connect
    • Prayer
  • Who We Are
    • Council & Staff
    • Bethel's Story
    • Mission and Vision
    • Contact us
  • Summer
  • Ministries
    • Alpha
    • Bethel Kids
    • Dove Taekwondo
    • Men's Ministry
    • Prayer Ministry >
      • 24/7 Prayer
    • Small Groups
    • WillowWood Preschool
    • Women's Ministry
    • World Missions >
      • Bettesu Village
    • Youth Ministry
    • Young Adults Ministry
  • Media
    • Sermon Notes
    • Podcasts
    • RightNow Media
    • Pastor's Corner
    • Bulletin and Community News
  • Give
  • Grow
    • Growth Path
    • Reading Scripture Together >
      • Bible Reading Resources
    • Bible Studies >
      • The Resilient Life
      • Lent 2021
      • Kids Sermon Series
      • It Is Written
      • Roots
    • Porn Recovery and Prevention Resources
  • Serve
  • Employment