At Sunday’s worship, Pastor Śānti welcomed us to worship with an invitation that she and Pastor Lacey wrote collaboratively. Below is the recording and the text, as many of you requested. As they wrote: “Let us strive for diversity, celebrate community, and reach out to make new friends.”
At CUCC, we welcome wandering souls, spiritual refugees, and devout pilgrims. We welcome those who are single, married, divorced, widowed, gay, and experimenting.
We welcome men, women, non-binary folks, and everyone in between. We welcome the rich and comfortable and those who are struggling to make ends meet.
We extend a special welcome to those who feel burned by church and are wondering if this is a safe space.
We welcome you if you can sing like Taylor Swift or can’t carry a note in a bucket. You are welcome here if you are “just browsing”, just woke up, just got out of prison, or just need a place to sit and chill for a while.
It doesn’t matter if you are more pious than the Pope or haven’t been in church since your own infant baptism 40 years ago. Maybe this is your first time to church since before the pandemic, welcome! We are excited you are here.
We welcome those with purple hair, pink hair, and no hair. We welcome artists, musicians, magicians, and mathematicians! We welcome people who are neuro-divergent and autistic. We welcome people who need to stim… shout, wiggle, flap, clap, squeal, and sing.
We welcome babies and toddlers, those who are learning to walk and want to run up and down the aisles. We extend a special welcome to those who are over 70 but not yet grown up, and, to the creative, smart teenagers who are growing up so fast.
We welcome soccer moms, football dads, starving artists, tree huggers, latte sippers, libertarians, vegetarians, pescatarians, and junk-food eaters. We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted. We welcome wheelchairs, canes, and walkers!
We welcome you if you are having relationship problems, struggling with anxiety and depression, or if you don’t like ‘organized religion’.
We offer a special welcome to those who fight for justice and need a place where they can feel inspired while also finding rest.
We welcome the deep thinkers, the thrill seekers, and the deep sleepers. We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now.
We welcome the doubters, the bleeding hearts, and the ones who feel a spiritual nudge. We welcome everyone because Jesus welcomes us all. Let us strive for diversity, celebrate community, and reach out to make new friends. Welcome!
-Written by Rev. Lacey Brown and Rev. Śānti Matthews for worship on March 19, 2023