to those who are single, married, divorced, partnered, gay, straight, filthy rich, dirt poor, or struggle to speak English. We extend a special welcome to those who are crying newborns, fidgety toddlers, or insecure middle schoolers. We welcome you whether you’re skinny as a rail, or could afford to lose a few pounds.
We welcome you if you can sing like Luciano Pavarotti or can’t carry a tune 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 Archbishop of Canterbury, more Lutheran than Martin Luther, more Catholic than the Pope, more Presbyterian than John Calvin, more Methodist than John Wesley, or more Baptist than John Smith. We don’t care if you’ve never stepped foot in a church before or haven’t been in church since little Joey’s baptism or Aunt Sally’s funeral.
We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not grown up yet, and to teenagers who are growing up but far too fast. We welcome soccer moms and football dads, starving artists, tree-huggers, latté-sippers, vegetarians and junk food eaters. We welcome those who are addicted – whether in recovery or not. We welcome you if you’re having problems, you’re down in the dumps, or are suffering in body, mind or spirit. We extend an especially warm welcome to those who don’t like ‘organized religion’ (we’re not always as organized as you might think).
If you blew all your money on the horses, you’re welcome here. We welcome those who think the earth is flat, who work too hard, who don’t work or can’t work, can’t spell, or are here 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 their throat as a kid, or got lost in the great metropolis of Green Valley and ended up here by mistake or because their GPS unit malfunctioned. We welcome snow-birds and locals, seekers and doubters, bleeding hearts and hardened hearts … and we welcome you!
