The Ministry of Hospitality

Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. – Matthew 22:36-40

God's two greatest commandments are to love God and love others. To love everyone equally is a true sign of our love for God and our desire to live as Christ. Hospitality is one way of showing this love for one another by welcoming in guests or visitors as well as each other with a warm smile, a handshake, and in our hospitality ministry all of those plus a tasty treat! Jesus also tells us in Matthew 25:40 that whatever we do for the least of people, we do for him.

I’m reminded of what hospitality has meant for me over the years. As a shy person first attending Incarnation it was a way for me to get to know people. I had never cooked on a large scale or set up a space for a dinner or reception. I learned from the kindness and mentoring of our fellow parishioners while having fun. The truth is during these hard times, we don’t always know what people are going through but often a simple act of kindness, an invitation to participate, can go a long way.

This past Sunday we had a hospitality team meeting for those who were able to attend. Thank you all for your time and contribution to hospitality moving forward. For those of you who could not make it, you were missed. Your experience and ideas are valued, and I would love to hear from you. Please contact me if you would like to join our hospitality team and further conversations on how to grow this ministry, or if you are already doing hospitality or considering becoming involved (and have a few questions), if you could all please contact me. [email protected]

To answer a few of those questions in advance, here are some of the ways of serving in this important ministry. There are a variety of tasks in hospitality, and you don’t have to be good at all or any of them.Maybe you would like to make and serve coffee, maybe you would like to learn how to put a great tray of food together, maybe you love to bake and can occasionally drop off an item in the kitchen for Sunday coffee hours, (this activity is welcomed and encouraged, thank you in advance). Maybe you would like an opportunity to get to know more people and build relationships, while serving at the same time. This is at the heart of hospitality, and we have space for you!

What are some of the opportunities? You can serve once a month at the Sunday coffee hours, or once a year at the special coffee hours for the Christmas Eve and Easter Vigil services, or both! For those of you who would like to serve at the parish meals, we have barbeques twice a year as well as the Shrove Sunday Pancake Breakfast and other special occasions that will need hospitality support.

In joining the hospitality conversation, you will receive a list of opportunities that you can pick and choose from so join us as we begin this fun endeavor together of living into what Christ has taught us, to love one another.