Hosting Hospitality towards visitors??

Christian ethics and theology with an Anabaptist perspective

Does your church have a "Hospitality" schedule?

 
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steve-in-kville
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Hosting Hospitality towards visitors??

Post by steve-in-kville »

Okay... I've been in a poll-ish mood as of late. So here's another one to keep us entertained:

Does your church have an official "hospitality" schedule? Basically, you're assigned a Sunday that you're expected to invite visitors home for dinner after church?? (obviously this applies to married couples/families) Seems some congregations are big on this, some are not.

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Josh
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Re: Hosting Hospitality towards visitors??

Post by Josh »

My old church did, published right in the bulletin.

Holdeman churches don't seem to do this, but generally a deacon or minister is expected to able to host unexpected visitors to the Sunday service.
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steve-in-kville
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Re: Hosting Hospitality towards visitors??

Post by steve-in-kville »

Josh wrote:My old church did, published right in the bulletin.
Fancy you bring that up. We were part of a church that only posted who had hospitality the next Sunday... not the current Sunday. Not entirely sure as to why, though?
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steve-in-kville
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Re: Hosting Hospitality towards visitors??

Post by steve-in-kville »

Haha ^^^^

My 100th post!! Compared to Josh's 2100!!
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RZehr
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Re: Hosting Hospitality towards visitors??

Post by RZehr »

We are a new church plant and haven't discussed this yet but our original church does this. In practice the schedule tended to be a "backup" option since most of the time the visitors already had plans.
Since having the schedule didn't mean that no one else was allowed to invite visitors over, many times the host family would just end up inviting regulars over to eat the extra food they had prepared.
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steve-in-kville
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Re: Hosting Hospitality towards visitors??

Post by steve-in-kville »

RZehr wrote:... many times the host family would just end up inviting regulars over to eat the extra food they had prepared.
I've seen a trend where the designated "host" would invite both visitors and regulars... perhaps to keep things interesting??
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Hats Off
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Re: Hosting Hospitality towards visitors??

Post by Hats Off »

We don't have a host family; we have a group of host families. We split the congregation into three groups with each group hosting one Sunday per month. This is for the benefit of the locals so they can go visiting without a special invite. When it is our group's turn to host, we can expect company unless we specifically opt out of hosting this month. The 4th and 5th Sunday, we are free to invite anyone from the congregation or to simply vegetate at home.

Usually visitors already have plans when they come, but if not, they can expect an invitation from someone in the group that is hosting. I always enjoy visitors just dropping in at church - they can almost be assured of an invitation from us unless we have a prior commitment. However, for almost anyone from this forum, we would beg off on any prior commitment in favour of hosting you.
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silentreader
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Re: Hosting Hospitality towards visitors??

Post by silentreader »

Hats Off wrote:We don't have a host family; we have a group of host families. We split the congregation into three groups with each group hosting one Sunday per month. This is for the benefit of the locals so they can go visiting without a special invite. When it is our group's turn to host, we can expect company unless we specifically opt out of hosting this month. The 4th and 5th Sunday, we are free to invite anyone from the congregation or to simply vegetate at home.

Usually visitors already have plans when they come, but if not, they can expect an invitation from someone in the group that is hosting. I always enjoy visitors just dropping in at church - they can almost be assured of an invitation from us unless we have a prior commitment. However, for almost anyone from this forum, we would beg off on any prior commitment in favour of hosting you.
hmmm...
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Hats Off
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Re: Hosting Hospitality towards visitors??

Post by Hats Off »

Don't spend so much time thinking - just come!
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francis
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Re: Hosting Hospitality towards visitors??

Post by francis »

I'm in a house church right now, so everyone brings food and we have dinner after services, but I like the idea of having hospitality at non-house churches.
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