Welcome

Ray Evans

Quality welcome, quality teaching, and quality hospitality are three key ingredients of a flourishing church. Jen highlights the two of these that all Christians need to reflect in their personal lives if the body of Christ is to demonstrate his grace. She reminds us that the God who has welcomed us—welcomed you!—can use us to welcome others. What a privilege that is. How significant that is! So, read this book and absorb some of Jen’s lovely insights.

Carolyn Lacey

Those who have experienced God’s extravagant welcome in Christ should be obsessed with sharing it as widely and generously as we can. Yet it is easy to be inward-focused, comfortable in our church communities, and blind to the needs of our neighbours—and to the barriers that get in the way of them joining us. Jen Oshman draws on the Scriptures and her own experiences of church-planting and cross-cultural missions to show how our churches can be places of welcome and belonging for everyone. Written with warmth and wisdom, this book will inspire and equip individuals and church families to reflect the welcome of our Saviour.

“Encouraging, but missed the mark a bit for me.”

Pg 41 encouraged my type A schedule and to-do list loving heart: “Do I make space in my life, and in my schedule, for those whose lives are messy or awkward or just very different from my own?”
She reminds us of the truth at the heart of the gospel - that we are, by nature, enemies of God. And that only though the shed blood of Jesus are we welcomed into God’s family. This should spur us into welcoming others in the same way.
Chapters 6 and 7 were not my favorite. She did point out that she was not advocating for making “visiting a church so convenient and attractive that we demolish the gospel” which I appreciated because many of the surrounding pages made it sound that way. Outreach is important, but it is by no means the primary focus or purpose of a church. My personal opinion is that far too many churches focus on bringing in people and wha results is the gospel is watered down or replaced with emotional responses to culture. Expositing the word is replaced with feel good, topical preaching. Of course church should be welcoming, but we should raise up those who join us, educating and encouraging them to the truth of the gospel instead of focusing on not offending anyone. She also says “An inward focus harms a church, while an outward focused brings life.” Followed with “Churches that maintain an outward focus are the healthiest.” These seem like arbitrary statements. Define healthiest? Large numbers don’t equate to healthy, gospel-centered churches. For both examples, the focus is wrong. The ultimate focus of any healthy church is God. I do think some of these statements and ideas fleshed out in conversation with the author may show that we align more than this book has led me to believe.
In her conclusion she does clarify that God alone provides the growth and encourages us to “give our lives over to the task of planting seeds and watering them” while also reminding us of John 6:44 and that no one can come to Jesus unless that Father draws him.

“basis for a sermon series”

We found this so helpful that we made it the basis for a term's preaching. Across 7 chapters we were encouraged to rethink welcoming both at church and in our wider circles, and to welcome people with the welcome we have received from God.

All in all a great package.
Short book = accessible.
Discussion questions/worksheets = small groups could join in.
Videos = further input.

“The Importance of being a welcoming church”

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Welcome by Jen Oshman. How we welcome visitors, people perhaps apprehensive about visiting a church for the first time or even how we welcome people who have been coming to church for many years; these are aspects that many churches overlook or give very little consideration to.
This book firstly gives a biblical perspective to these issues, and most importantly gives encouragement and practical ideas, based on years of experience by the author.
I heartily recommend this book for church leaders, elders, deacons, indeed to all church members. I’m sure they will find it challenging and encouraging.

“The Necessity of Welcome”

Previously our church has used the "Love Your Church" series and found it readable and widely applicable. I got a copy of this book because one area we should particularly be thinking about is our welcome. While we can sometimes be very hospitable and warm to visitors, it's helpful to have a book that states the necessity of a warm welcome and also the theological reasoning for it! Now that we've read the book as a welcome team, we need to spend some time working out together how we can use it in our day to day ministry life, especially as we try to reach out into the community more purposefully this year.

“The Gift of Loving Your Church”

The third book in the series by Jen Oshman is titled Welcome: Loving Your Church by Make Space For Everyone (2023). Many churches today are seen as unwelcoming at best, and hostile to outsiders at worst. Neither of these should be the case. The local church should be the most welcoming place on earth. That is not to say that in order to be a welcoming church, it has to compromise the biblical gospel. The exact opposite is true. It is only because the biblical gospel is the only way to salvation that the church should welcome everyone with open arms so that they come and hear the good news of Jesus.

Being a welcoming church is not something that comes easy, but must be worked at with eagerness. It is easy to congregate in a “holy huddle” and not be open to folks that don’t look and sound like us. For this reason, local churches must have strategies to insure that visitors feel welcome when they visit. This will look different based on context, but local churches should be intentional about teaching its members the importance of being welcoming. Over time, this effort will go a long way in not only reaching a community with the biblical gospel, but can help make the Christian faith more appealing to those who may have once been skeptical.

The Love Your Church series is an excellent set of resources for church leaders and lay people alike. Each volume exhorts local churches to be what the church is called to be by Jesus. The church is an institution established by the Lord to propagate the gospel to the ends of the earth. Jesus promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). This promise should give the church confidence in its mission, but also serve as a warning. It is only when we are standing on the biblical gospel, that we stand firm. For this reason, the church should be a place to gather for worship, find true belonging, and welcome others to come and find rest.

“Must-read for church members”

What does it mean to be “welcoming?”

Do you greet the visitor at church on Sunday? Are you cultivating relationships outside of formal activities in your church?

What about your witness to nonbelievers?

This book unpacks all of that and so much more.

I never forget visiting a church in college and after just visiting one Sunday, one of the elders remembered my name and invited my husband (then boyfriend) and I over for dinner. We ended up joining that church after years of searching for one in undergrad.

It meant so much to me because I had completely opposite experiences before after attending churches for months.

Jen Oshman lays out how those simple gestures can have lasting kingdom impact.

These gestures help us not just call each other family in Christ but we start to live that out deeply in a non surface level way.

I loved how practical this book was. Each chapter has “Action Steps” at the end on how to put into practice the truths about being welcoming in the chapter.

It has discussion questions + a guide in the back and would be great for a community group type setting.