As we now have a strong Vision in place for 'making disciples of Jesus Christ', let's turn our attention to considering what is the most crucial Vision component for Emmanuel to improve upon. Certainly there may be many different opinions on this matter, but as I have prayed about this much, one component kept coming back to me.....

Radical Hospitality - what steps can we take to encourage others to feel welcomed and prepare them to encounter God?

As we have started a second service, now we can freely invite, invite and invite without the fear of running out of parking or feeling too crowded. The potential to have a warm, friendly environment is enormous. Emmanuel is already filled with friendly people, but the sacred space of the church is waiting to reflect that friendliness. The Hospitality Team will soon be working on ways to decorate the bare walls of the lobby with an Emmanuel-like theme.

Also, informal conversation has started about finding worship banners for the blank walls of the sanctuary. There are worship banner patterns available for anyone wanting to get involved with this. Not only will banners warm up the sacred space, but it will also help with sound acoustics.

Another aspect of Radical Hospitality is being more intentional about welcoming visitors. Within the next couple of weeks we hope to have a program implented so that every visitor knows they were welcomed and feels as though the church is there for them.

Finally, the challenge of cleaning the church building remains a challenge. So far, the volunteerism looks like this:

W.O.W. has volunteered to keep the upstairs cleaned for the entire year...woohooo!
Joe and Wilma Gamel have volunteered to clean the bathrooms....woohooo!
The Sunday morning Small Group (Kim Royer's group) has volunteered for February..woohoo!
Kathy Bolton has volunteered to help fill in when needed (including December)...woohoo!

As you see, we are making progress, but we are still needing help. What we need is the following:

March-December - groups to commit to one month of cleaning sanctuary and basement levels at least twice during the month.

While the other components of the Vision are equally important, it is my honest opinion the deepest untapped potential of Emmanuel is the Hospitality component. If you feel called or gifted to helping Emmanuel be a more welcoming place, please consider being part of the team and contact Pastor Joe. You can make a serious impact on the Vision that Emmanuel has for the future.