On Sunday, February 2, we celebrated our first official service in our new building. It was an incredible time to acknowledge God’s faithfulness through the years, recalling together all that has happened in the past to make the day possible. It really was an amazing morning!

Now to be honest, I was a bit surprised by the end of the day. In fact, as I drove into church Sunday morning, I just kept thinking about how we could make 438 new seats feel like 250. 438! Maybe we could encourage our people to space themselves out, making our new space seem smaller? Maybe we could encourage a row between families? How about spreading the kids around so that their messiness made the room feel smaller? What about roping off the back rows to encourage everyone to sit in the front?

God had other plans, church family. Instead of too few people, we began to think about having enough people to need more chairs! At the end of the day, we had less than 100 seats unoccupied within our auditorium and we marveled that without any outside advertising, visitors had found Redemption Hill Church!

One of my favorite parts of the day was watching you, Redemption Hill, welcoming new friends into our space. Spontaneous conversations happened all over the building, without any suggestion to reach out and be friendly. By default, each of you in attendance lived out and displayed our shared values of Discipleship, Community and Mission:

Discipleship - walking alongside one another in our mission of Gospel-centered love and instruction.

Community - illustrating the love we have for Jesus and others in that same shared mission.

Mission - living out our understanding that the Gospel is both an example we display and words we speak…it is the core of everything we do as a church.

All of these ideas reminded me of the verses from Romans 12:9-13 that say,

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”

Paul knew that these attributes would define the church. He knew that the way the church loves, serves, and hosts matters. This was true in Rome and it is still true today.

So, Redemption Hill, as we move forward through our soft-launch preparation, let us prepare our hearts to love, serve and host in ways that are welcoming not only into our building but also towards a mentality of Discipleship, Community and Mission. This can be done in several ways:

1) Keep your Eyes Focused Outward. Sundays are a great time to encourage one another. But with as many visitors as we are meeting, let’s save the bulk of our energy for engaging new people. Take time to hug the neck of old friends; but when you see someone new, try saying something like this: “Hey friend, I am so glad to see you and I want to catch up later but I’m going to introduce myself to this new person. I will talk to you in a little while.” There are not many experiences that are more difficult than visiting a new place and meeting new people. Let’s be sure that no one goes unnoticed in our church by keeping our eyes focused outward.

2) Be as Helpful as Possible, But Don’t Be Annoying! Some people want to be engaged directly and cannot wait to get into a conversation. They have questions and most likely, you have some answers. If you don’t have answers, be sure to guide new friends directly to the Welcome Desk and to the Team that is there. Other folks may not be interested in a conversation or want to talk about themselves. Once you engage a visitor, observe their body language. Do they turn towards you or do they turn away? Turning away is a possible sign that they might want to be left alone. Do they make eye contact and smile? Do they give one-word answers to simple questions? All of these are signs to either keep talking or to give one final, “We are so glad you joined us today and if you need anything, please let me know.” Also, not everyone enjoys hugs; be sure to keep an appropriate distance and acknowledge boundaries.

3) Let’s Say Goodbye Well. Once service ends, we may be tempted to see this time as a chance to get into conversations with old friends. We love our church family but it is easy to forget that there are new friends still available to engage. Let’s be sure to say goodbye well. Engage new friends after service with questions of, “What did you think? Can I answer any new questions you might have about Redemption Hill?” If anything, feel free to stand near the doors in the foyer and as people walk out, hold the doors, give them one last smile, and say, “Thanks for being here! Hope to see you again soon.”

Doing these things will not guarantee that someone will return to Redemption Hill. What it will assure, church family, is that no one will walk out the doors and say, “I don’t even feel like I was noticed.” There are all kinds of reasons that people can find to not go to church. Our goal is that once people have walked in our doors, they have felt encouraged by our presence, acknowledged and appreciated, challenged by our sermons, and loved. That’s it. Together, let’s truly be a welcoming church.

I am thrilled to be on this journey with you all!