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Message from Pastor Bill – December 2008
Dear Saints:
By the time parishioners read this article, many would have scrapped the last remnants of Thanksgiving spreads. The guests that came from near and far during this festive occasion have settled back into their respective places and lifestyles. The spirit of hospitality that pervades in this season is the impression that has been made for me at St. Matthew during my short time here. I have been amazed with the moments of fellowship that make up the fabric of this great church. Admittedly, St. Matthew, I grew up in a community and a church that habitually practiced hospitality, and until very recently, I never considered the spiritual intricacies of hospitality. In fact, I’m embarrassed to admit that I thought of hospitality as the fallback contribution for those who could not exercise spiritual gifts like leadership, teaching, or organization. As I plunge into this community and ministry the significance of hospitality cannot be overstated as part of the spiritual mission of the church.
There are many forms of hospitality, but at this stage of courtship, so to speak, for myself and the church there is one form most prominent which is 'Communicational Hospitality: Fostering Dialogue'. This type of hospitality informs us that we as a community can become hospitable in our communication if we relearn the skill of dialogue. Conversation has become a lost art. For all the communication possibilities in our culture, we have lost the ability to speak and listen to one another.
In Columbus, a community where the local newspaper serves three major universities, I often hear sports fans from each college complain that the newspaper is inadequate or unfair in its coverage of their team; I agree, especially with the Georgia Bulldogs (go Dawgs). Many of these fans will tell you that fair and accurate information can be found only on the Web sites and publications associated with their particular team. In a fluid and preference-driven culture that offers so many options for information, we have both the capability and the proclivity to spend most of our time among those who affirm our viewpoints. We are losing the ability to talk with those who disagree with us.
This is the reason that I feel called to this church as Associate Pastor of Outreach/Family Ministries; for the opportunity to dialogue with those who are impacted by tradition, prejudice and downright fear, and to show them that we can come together in honest dialogue for a common solution relevant for social change. Following Henri Nouwen, who says that "receptivity and honesty are the root activities of real dialogue, I believe, with hospitality applied to our conversations, we will be able, St. Matthew, to be that beacon of hope to the surrounding and global communities of faith. The way forward is a new social order that presses for the transformation of values both within and without the church. As we press for the renewal of the church, we must pray for and work for new images of wholeness. Further, this vision of dialogue must push for the questioning of institutions that circumscribe the rights of many of God's children. We must teach that the gospel of love demands that our church, our schools, civic organizations, and social groups are to become settings in which all God's people are free to grow. This conversation and reality must be rooted in the grace of God and in the hopes and dreams of the least of these. This practice of communicational hospitality fostering dialogue would liberate the voice of the church from a culture that typically hears only the voices of preference, favoritism, prejudice and judgment.
Faithfully,
Pastor Bill
