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Last Sunday, preaching on Matthew 10.40-42 and our call to hospitality, I explored the vulnerability involved in truly welcoming someone to church. That to welcome a person as they are is to invite them into an ever-forming Body of Christ. Which is to say: truly welcoming is relinquishing control, is to invite another to be a part of the formative work. Granted, that’s probably not a good opening line if by “welcome someone to church” you were hoping for a tip on how to greet a visitor, but I’ve continued to think about the idea as I’ve encountered several conversations around and examples of church hurt this week. The ways that churches can do harm are legion. The trust many put into them – as institutions, or towards their leaders – can so easily be upset, even manipulated. Teachings and practices can move to serve a congregation rather than God, a faithfulness that doesn’t bode well for anyone unlike them. And let me assure you: pastors are people, we are flawed, and I know way too many stories about brokenness in the pastor’s chair or pulpit already. Sadly church harm is a concept that needs little introduction, but let me at least offer this: if you experience it with or through San Marco Church, I hope you will not keep it to yourself. Please share with me or our lay leadership. Sara Robinson is our Lay Leader and Derrick Scott our Leadership Chair. We truly want San Marco Church to be a Body of Christ engaged in the work of the kingdom of God, which means if you are being harmed, we are doing something that, at the very least, needs correcting. To those that have experienced harm through experiences with the church, or want to support someone who has, I’m happy to share this resource from Kate Bowler. Dr. Bowler is a professor at Duke, and you may know her from podcasts or the (excellent) book Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved. This new site, “Church-Hurt Happens”, is a collection of resources for those that have been harmed and I hope it may be helpful to some of you. As we look ahead, I pray we’ll hold close Jesus’ repeated call to love one another, that loving one another would be so fundamental to our expressions of faith that it’s how others would identify us as his followers. Or maybe we can carry with us John Wesley’s “3 Simple Rules” as we seek to be faithful. I’ll share #1 here, it’s pretty easy to remember. In fact, it’s just three words: “Do no harm.” Amen. Rev. Ben Richards Ps. Can you do a postscript after an “Amen.”? I hope so, because one more thing: This Sunday we begin a new series, The Gospel of Bob’s Burgers, during which you’re invited to watch a weekly suggested episode. It’s not homework, not a prerequisite, and there will not be a test, but this week’s episode is “Bob and Deliver” (Season 4, Episode 7). The series is available on Hulu, and I will be hosting a watch party Saturday night at 7:30p for anyone that would like to experience it with others. Email me in advance or check our Facebook page tomorrow night to join the watch party.
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