Today’s Reading is a Dialogue over a Troubling Scenario:
Ms. Happy: ”Are you new? Have we met?”
Mr. Huffy: ”I’ve been coming here for 10 years!”
Analysis with the Help of Pastor Cranky and Pastor Smiley:
Pastor Smiley: This is a common occurrence (or at least a commonly feared one) in churches with more than a certain number of people in attendance. Say, 20. It happens more often when the church has more than one Sunday worship service, a lot of visitors, members who do not come to church every Sunday, members who drift away and come back, a big crowd on Sundays, shy people, or outgoing people with weak memories. In other words, it’s inherent in any church, except one where worshipers don’t ever talk to one another.
Pastor Cranky: It’s also a common problem when members fail to put their NAME TAGS on and keep them on till they are ready to head home. It’s a problem when our guests take off their name tags or somehow slip by our crack Hospitality Team. It’s a problem for me, because it makes me look like a bad pastor when I don’t call people by name but only stare at them blankly as my brain goes through its Rolodex.
Pastor Smiley: Well, my solution is to smile, of course. ”It’s good to see you! Thanks for being here!”
Ms. Happy: ”But how can we get connected to folks if we are afraid to ask them who they are and introduce ourselves? I was trying only to be friendly.”
Mr. Huffy: ”Well, I guess I reacted to your question a little too…uh, huffily. I’m sorry. Thanks for talking to me.”
Pastor Smiley: ”I am new on staff here myself, so I know only a small fraction of people by name. And the kids keep growing and changing, and they aren’t here every Sunday either, so it’s hard to keep track of them.”
Pastor Cranky: ”How can we get folks to wear their name tags? Fine them?”
Pastor Smiley: ”Not such a welcoming tactic. What I say is: ’Remind me of your name, please….’
Or I say: ‘I think we’ve met, haven’t we? No? Oh, I’m sorry. Well, my name is Ralph Waldo Emerson. It’s good to meet you! When did you start coming here?’ “
Ms. Happy: ”So you don’t put the spotlight on the other person?
Instead, you ask, ‘We’ve met, haven’t we?’ “
Mr. Huffy: ”Yes, that would be better, but I must admit that if you ask me that question four weeks in a row, it’ll hurt my feelings.”
Pastor Cranky: ”So you are promising to come to church four Sundays in a row?”
Pastor Smiley: ”Now, Cranky, loosen up. Let’s remember that we all want to be here, that most of us want to see friendly faces, and to be known personally, and hear the sound of our names. Let’s try to take it a little easy.”
Ms. Happy: ”And if we wear a name tag, we will make it even easier!”
Mr. Huffy: “Okay. I’ll try to remember.”
Here endeth the reading.
Tags: church, friendly, greeting, hospitality, huffy, membership, name tags
