Welcome, I mean that!

My Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Here is a letter that was placed in my inbox in the office anonymously.  I think it is a great message and is spot on, if you know what I mean.  This is our welcome to you:

We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, gay, filthy rich, dirt poor, yo no habla ingles.  We extend a special welcome  to those who are crying new-borns, skinny as a rail or could use to lose a few pounds.  

We welcome you if you can sing like Andrea Bocelli or like our pastor who can't carry a note in a bucket.  You're welcome here if you are just browsing, just woke up or just got out of jail.  We don't care if you are more Catholic than the Pope, or haven't been in church since little Joey's Baptism.  We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not grown up yet, and to teenagers who are growing up too fast.  We welcome soccer moms, NASCAR dads, starving artists, tree-huggers, latte-sippers, vegetarians, junk-food eaters.  We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted.  We welcome you if you're having problems or you're down in the dumps or if you don't like "organized religion", we've been there too. 

If you blew all your offering money at the dog track, you're welcome here.  We offer a special welcome to those who think the earth is flat, work too hard, don't work, can't spell, or 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 your throat as a kid or got lost in traffic and wound up here by mistake.  We welcome tourists, seekers and doubters, bleeding hearts....and you!

Well, that about sums it up.  This is God's house and everyone is welcome here.  We like to say that "Irwin First United Methodist Church is the place where strangers become friends and friends become family".   Until next time, God loves you and so do I.

Pastor Bruce

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