Bishop’s Column

By the Rt Rev’d Mary Stallard

As we look forward to celebrating God’s presence in our midst at Advent and Christmas, it is wonderful that this issue of Croeso is focussing upon accessibility and our growing understanding of what it might mean to welcome everyone in our churches and communities.

Welcome is at the heart of our faith and the incarnation – the idea that God loves us so much that in Jesus, God lived amongst us as a human – is perhaps the ultimate expression of what welcome and inclusion can be like. We Christians believe that God in Jesus shows us what it is like to put aside power and to show selfemptying love, to reach out to those who may need help and connection to know that they are loved and accepted.

Practising self-emptying love ourselves is so difficult. In so many parts of our lives we are trained and conditioned to look to our own needs first, and to measure ourselves against others rather than putting other people first. The idea that we might be enriched by others and the understanding that love is an infinite resource, one that grows the more it is shared, can take a lifetime to fathom and to try and live out. This type of learning calls us to be constantly learning and forgiving – a great theme for Advent, which is dedicated by the church as a time of moving forward in hope.

Those who have embraced the journey of seeking to reach out to others and to broaden the welcome that they offer, usually discover that this is a joyful journey and one in which they learn more about themselves.

Learning about how we might need to change can also be hard work. I have never yet encountered a church community which does not believe that it is welcoming, and yet those who cross our thresholds for the first time, and those who either don’t want to come in, or who cannot easily gain access often have much to teach us. We are gradually getting a little better at noticing the physical barriers that can make churches inaccessible. Perhaps it is more challenging to notice barriers that are less obvious. There is a call here for us to be attentive to others, to be on the lookout for things we may previously have failed to notice, and to be adaptable and flexible in the face of the needs we may encounter. This is after all exactly how God welcomes us, with patience, with great love and with a deep desire for connection and blessing.