Site
Contents
 |
Imagine Indiana Transition Team Information
General Information about the Area Office
North Indiana Conference Office
South Indiana Conference Office
Area United Methodist
Foundation
Prayer Guides
(Courtesy of the NIC Prayer Team)
For resources to assist your congregation in welcoming guests,
click here
Seashore District Volunteer Center VIM project -- Completed
Hoosier United Methodist News Archives
| Hoosier United Methodist News |
July 2001 |
Commentary:
Why don't we invite them in?
By Ralph E. Bauserman
My wife, Wilma, and I are active members of a United Methodist church in a small town (population 2,700), located in the hill country of southeastern Ohio. The worship attendance is approximately 160. About two years ago, in an Administrative Council meeting, someone asked, "What are we going to do about all those kids hanging around our church building?" Each weekday, the school bus stops at 7:10 a.m. at an adjacent parking lot to transport high school youth on to the local high school. As a result, the youth begin to gather shortly after 6:30 a.m. to await the arrival of the school bus, and since our church building is so close, it has become a kind of gathering point for a number of teenagers. They sit on the front steps; they gather in little clusters under the covered doorways; they seek those places that will give them some protection from the weather. Thus the question: "What are we going to do about all those kids hanging around our church building?"
|
At a time when there are so many persons who are wounded and hurting, or who have lost their way in life, it seems, at least to me, that one of the major tasks of the church is to open our doors and "invite them in." |
When the question was raised, it grew strangely quiet in the room. Then one of the men said, "Why don't we invite them in?" Someone gasped, "What?" "Why don't we invite them in?" After far too much discussion and some degree of reluctance, the man who raised the question was given permission to "invite them in."
We now have what is commonly known as "The Bus Stop Ministry." Each week day morning at 6:15 a.m., a team of two adults arrives and prepares for the arrival of the youth. At 6:30 a.m. the doors of the building are opened and in the next half hour, 30-40 youth move freely in and out. They are served with "day old" rolls, cookies, and doughnuts (provided by a local bakery), hot chocolate, milk, and a variety of juices. They sit or stand in comfortable surroundings, some talking with one of the adults. The have not only found a safe place to "hang out" they have found a people who care. So far, a few of the youths have found their way into some of the youth activities of the church, as well as Sunday School and worship.
At a time when there are so many persons who are wounded and hurting, or who have lost their way in life, it seems, at least to me, that one of the major tasks of the church is to open our doors and "invite them in." It matters not the nature of their problems nor does it matter how deeply entrenched in sin they may seem, our place is to "invite them in." I think this is what Jesus would do, and I think the risen Christ became very real in our church the night one of our men said, "Why don't we invite them in?" How about the doors of your church building? Are they open wide enough to receive all persons?
Ralph E. Bauserman is the Distinguished Evangelist in Residence, General Board of Discipleship.
Last updated on 01/14/2004