Dear
brothers and sisters,
Why don't you come and be part of the church family of St Peter's-in-the-Forest? It is, after all, YOUR parish church!
We
extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, gay,
filthy rich, dirt poor, can't speak 'proper' English, and those who can. We
extend a special welcome to those who are crying new-borns, skinny as a rake or
could afford to lose a few pounds.
We welcome you if you can sing like Andrea Bocelli or like me - your parish priest - who can’t carry a note in a bucket. You’re welcome here if you’re “just browsing", just woke up or just got out of jail. We don’t care if you’re more Anglican than the Queen, more Catholic than the Pope, or haven’t been in church since little Joey’s Baptism.
We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not grown up yet, and to teenagers who are growing up too fast. We welcome football dads, cafe mums, starving artists, tree-huggers, latte-sippers, vegetarians, junk-food eaters. We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted. We welcome you if you’re having problems or you’re down in the dumps or if you don’t like “organized religion".... We've been there too.
If you blew all your offering money at the betting shop, you’re welcome here. We offer a special welcome to those who think the earth is flat, work too hard, don’t work, can’t spell, or because grandma is in town and wanted to go to church.
We welcome those who are inked, pierced or both. We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now, had religion shoved down your throat as a kid or got lost in traffic and wound up here by mistake. We welcome tourists, seekers and doubters, bleeding hearts … and you!
We look forward to sharing the adventure with you... Go well,
Fr Paul
2 comments:
A lovely welcome, I think I can at relate to at least 5 of those, but which ones!
A fine comment, i think i can relate to at least 5 of those descriptions, but which ones!
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