Message from the Rector
Ow sos ger,
This week we consider the sacred space of hospitality and the role it plays in forming community.
"Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do.” Eccl 9:7
Monasteries were famous for their hospitality. They had a special place called the refectory where meals would be served, refectories still exist in some places, St Austell Tech College, back in my day, had a refectory. It was a great place to be. Friends from across the year groups would get together, eat together, the food was not fancy or expensive and if someone didn’t have any money that day we either subbed them or bought it for each other. These were very special formational days.
In yester year, pilgrims, travellers, the lost and the sick would turn up at church where the community would provide them with a hot meal. Several of our churches across the Upper Fal Parishes have this sort of story as art of their history and reason for being there. The church has stood for hundreds of years with hospitality being one of its core values.
Pause and reflect
What occasions have you enjoyed when you have celebrated with family and friends over a meal?
Have there been occasions when you have been most glad of an excuse or opportunity to pause in the day because someone unexpected has popped round?
Have there been times when you have regretted not inviting someone round for a coffee?
Is there anyone that you would like to invite round? Or, if you are too embarrassed because you think your home is unsuitable how about inviting them out for a coffee? Or a drink at the pub or local café wherever that might be. You never know it might just be the lifeline that someone is waiting for. Not only that but you too might be completely surprised by what unfolds as you share a bite to eat or a drink.
Hospitality is a great way to grow community, it is hard to be unfriendly towards someone when they have offered you some form of hospitality. It is said to be one of the fastest ways to build bridges.
As we consider the role of hospitality in our own lives, what do we think about our local church? In what way does it offer hospitality? Is there an issue with heating? Somewhere comfortable to sit? Are there welcoming spaces for those who use wheelchairs or pushchairs? Are the things that happen at church readily accessible to all who might come through the door or only for the fit and able?
Could you work with the PCC or with a friend at church to help make the building a more hospitable space? Is there scope for a community meal? Or a coffee morning if a meal seems too big a step?
Inviting the neighbours round for an open afternoon or coffee morning is a great way to meet people who might otherwise be too shy to come anyway!
Again take this into your prayer time, is there something here that God is challenging you with, or affirming within you? Allow Gods love to flow through you and see where that might go…
gras ha kres,
Caroline
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