Inviting September guests to visit a late-October Pumpkin Patch was one of the ways Asbury United Methodist Church in Bossier, La., repeated welcomes extended during Open House Month. Photo courtesy of Robin Williams

Guess who's coming
to church?

Open House Month urges
'Think like a visitor'

By Kami L. Rice

We've all felt it: the intimidation of entering a place for the first time. Whether it's a restaurant, a business or the home of an acquaintance, it's hard to enter when you don't know what to expect on the other side of the door. How do things work in there? What are the understood rules of behavior that everyone inside already knows? Will someone show you the ropes, or will everyone stare when you order your food at the wrong counter?

September's United Methodist Open House Month  helps churches reduce the intimidation factor for newcomers and welcome them into Christian community. The annual campaign encourages churches to rethink their worship experience from the perspective of people who've never before passed through their doors. Churches are encouraged to create a welcoming environment that continues beyond September and becomes a lifestyle of welcoming and living out Christ's commands to connect with people in their communities and around the world.

Just as the Rethink Church initiative's 10,000 Doors Web site helps seekers discover the myriad paths that lead to spiritual interaction and faith discovery, Open House Month reminds churches that they have many doors they can open to their communities.

Initiated nine years ago, Open House Month has always coincided with a national denominational advertising campaign during the back-to-school season when people are transitioning to new communities and settling into school-year routines. "If the whole denomination was throwing their doors open, you can see what kind of impact we could have," envisions Jackie Vaughan, Igniting Ministry's director of media grants and services.

Open House Month, continuing as part of the recently launched Rethink Church initiative, urges churches to focus on and remember that they are missional outposts in their neighborhoods and communities. "A church exists because it's part of the life -- and could be a greater part of the life -- of a neighborhood," Vaughan notes, adding that, historically, churches were the center of the communities that built up around them.

Asbury United Methodist Church in Bossier City, La., has hosted Open House Month events for the past several years as part of earning certification from United Methodist Communications as a welcoming congregation.

"Most churches subconsciously want to be welcoming but may not have a plan in place for how to do that," says Robin Williams, Asbury's office manager. She says just going through the process to apply for certification helped open church leaders' eyes to things they wanted and needed to do.

Last September Asbury promoted Bring-a-Friend Sunday. The welcoming team greeted newcomers and had plenty of information about opportunities for involvement.

Asbury continued the Open House theme by inviting newcomers back to participate in their pumpkin unloading festivities a month later when the church kicked off its annual October pumpkin patch. The pumpkin patch raises money for missions and has become a community tradition. In addition to selling pumpkins, last year Asbury welcomed approximately 1,500 children from 46 schools for pumpkin story-telling field trips.

Open House Month ideas and resources are available at www.RethinkChurch.org  under the "Welcoming Certification" tab.

--Kami L. Rice, freelance writer, Nashville, Tenn.

Honor workers with Labor Sunday service

Labor Day coincides with Open House Month and provides another opportunity for serving people in the community.

Intended to celebrate the social and economic achievements of American workers, today's version of the holiday finds many of the laborers who should be celebrated exempted from Labor Day celebrations because they must work that day.

The church has historical connections to Labor Day, notes the U.S. Department of Labor's Web site (www.dol.gov). The American Federation of Labor's 1909 convention resolution urged that "the Sunday preceding Labor Day be adopted as Labor Sunday, dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement,"

Add in the Methodist movement's attention from its beginning on the concerns of workers, and it's clear the Labor Day holiday offers an appropriate opportunity for seeking ways to serve the laborers in our midst.

Answer these questions to discover ways to serve:

- Who in your community will be working on Labor Sunday and Labor Day?

- How can your church serve them on these days? Can you meet laborers where they work and provide some unexpected treat? Can you invite them to your church and offer public thanks and appreciation?

- What opportunities does this holiday provide for rethinking church and serving often-ignored people?

Labor Sunday/Day Resources