For a long time we in the United Church of Christ have described our church as one of “Extravagant Welcome.” I’m not sure when and where the phrase was coined, but it was part of a movement to practice the faith of Jesus as discovered in the Bible. Along the journey of faith, a phrase arose that is used in our worship and has become an important part of our identity: “No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.” Many of our congregations use this phrase in worship every week and attempt to live it out in their welcoming of all who come.

This kind of welcome is not restricted to our denomination. There are other churches with congregations who are welcoming. However, understanding this kind of welcome as an essential practice of faith is a healthy discipline for our church.

This weekend, through workshops on Saturday and worship on Sunday, our congregation launched what is being called “The Year of Extravagant Welcome.” In the worship service, however, one of the dedicated leaders who has poured a lot of energy into this cause misspoke and referred to the celebration as “The Year of Exuberant Welcome.” Earlier, as part of the planning, I had misunderstood the title attached to the programs and referred to it as “The Year of Evangelical Welcome.”

That got us going. Susan and I often pass notes to each other during worship. I think we started doing so before we became pastors, as a way to have a bit of conversation without disrupting worship for others. After we started leading congregations, the notes gave us a way to communicate essential information without disrupting the flow of worship. Often the notes had information that would be helpful in other parts of the service. A pastoral concern that should be mentioned in prayer was passed on during the prelude. A special celebration was noted so that it could be mentioned in the announcements. So yesterday, sitting as participants in worship without special leadership responsibilities, we started thinking of adjectives that started with the letter E that might describe the welcome our congregation wants to teach and engage in this year of focus in the discipline of hospitality.

Our worship bulletin from yesterday has quite a list, penned in both of our handwriting styles: Extravagant, Exuberant, Evangelical, Extra Special, Expressive, Excessive (?), Extraordinary, Expedient, Experiential, Excellent, Extensive, Exciting. We probably could have gone on longer, but the flow of the worship service engaged us in other thoughts. Perhaps the year of extravagant welcome has begun by offering a time of engaging welcome.

While our thoughts and conversations were a bit of playfulness yesterday, it is a gift that other church leaders offered to us as we begin our time as interim ministers of faith formation. One of our questions is “How many different ways can we inspire members to step out of their comfort ones and engage the kind of extravagant welcome that Jesus practiced with those he met?” Another is, “What are the events, activities, programs and practices that can be taught and learned as we grow in faith together?”

Another line of thinking that was started by the opening events of our church’s year of extravagant welcome began with a few conversations about the traditional church coffee hour. Right now our congregation isn’t offering a coffee hour after worship due to careful guidance by our Covid Advisory Committee on safe practices during the pandemic. The committee is being very cautious as it guides congregational practice while the pandemic continues to spread. So the usual greeting of worshipers and after-worship activities have been moved out into the parking lot and are being pursued without refreshments. For some of us, this feels strange. We are used to meeting and greeting others in the informal setting of a church fellowship hall, with a beverage in hand. The interesting thing is that there have been a lot of people who have found this break from the pattern to be refreshing. Several people have told us of feeling awkward during the coffee hour. One said, “It brings out my inner middle schooler. I never know where to sit or which conversation might be awkward for me.” Another said, “It seems like everyone else has someone they are seeking out to sit with and talk to. I often feel out of place in the coffee hour unless I have a specific task. I don’t mind serving or cleaning up, but if I don’t have a specific job, I usually just skip it and go home.”

I’ve heard it said that church coffee hours are difficult and challenging for visitors. While we describe ourselves as a church of extravagant welcome, I’m pretty sure that there are a lot of people who don’t get a specific invitation when it comes to the coffee hour.

I don’t know the solution, but I do think the conversation has opened up an opportunity for fresh thinking about some of the deeply ingrained traditions of our church practice. For now the beautiful weather of summer invites us to linger in the parking lot and pursue conversations with fellow worshipers in that relatively safe space. Since we are new to the church and just learning names, we have no idea who is a visitor and who is a long-time member. This is an advantage right now because we can greet each person by offering our names and learning theirs.

It will be an interesting journey to be intentional about a year of extravagant welcome. I hope it is also exuberant, evangelical, extra special, expressive, and even excessive at times. I hope it will be extraordinary, expedient, experiential, excellent, extensive and exciting. I also know that it will be experimental. We’ll try a few things that work well and others that will need to be reexamined and reinvented. Just having the conversation and thinking about the words is opening us to new possibilities and new ways of practicing our faith.

It is starting out as a year worth remembering.