Hospitality - the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. (So says the google search.)
Perhaps the definition should be updated to include a picture of Fairview Loop Baptist Church in Wasilla, Alaska.
This afternoon the church gathered for a picnic and warmly welcomed 40+ guests from Arkansas. Actually, they don't consider us guests because (as the pastor said this morning in the service) we've slept under their roof for at least two days. We belong and they made us feel like it.
This is Alaska so the menu included moose burgers and king salmon along with other dishes both familiar and new. It was a potluck that could have been birthed in the South. I felt right at home.
They have fed us. They have welcomed us into worship. They have given up Sunday School space so we can use the rooms as a campground. They will feed us three meals each day as we work on their new building. They appreciate what we are doing and they express it through service. Through hospitality.
Does your church express appreciation in tangible ways? Is your church hospitable to both friend and stranger? Do your guests feel welcome or watched?
A church near 62 degrees latitude is a great example of hospitality. May those near 35 degrees be as warm.
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