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Radical Welcome
Advance Praise for Radical Welcome
When the drafters of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer began the work of reshaping the church’s worship experience, one of the first principles they addressed was the need to have the whole community present at the Eucharist. They were clear that adults, elders, and children all needed a place at the table. Perhaps this example from the mid-1940s is the beginning of our church’s on-going struggle with the question of diversity.
Today, addressing the issue of diversity in the life of the church calls us to encounter questions of inclusivity in terms of age, race, culture, sexuality, and class. Because we who by accident of birth enjoy a place of privilege in the life of the church are mostly blind to the expectations we maintain that exclude those not like us, we need the assistance of others to be truly inviting, welcoming, even radically welcoming congregations.
In Radical Welcome, from the perspective of one who has struggled to gain entry, Stephanie Spellers identifies barriers to inclusivity and offers a path for those who would transform their vision of the church as a gathering of all God’s children.
The Rev. Dr. Clayton L. Morris
Liturgical Officer, Episcopal Church Center
Author, Holy Hospitality: Worship and the Baptismal Covenant
In this book, Spellers provides thoughtful scholarship, wise counsel, and in-depth analysis of rigorous qualitative research. Her ability to define “radical welcome” in both theological and sociological terms, while avoiding off-putting jargon and cliché, makes Radical Welcome a unique resource. This book would be a wise choice for any minister, congregational leader, or Christian who wishes to understand—on both the most practical and the most ephemeral levels—what is required of the community that seeks to live into Christ’s call that “all may be one.”
The Rev. Dr. Sarah Birmingham Drummond,
M.Div., Ph.D.
Director of Field Education and Assistant
Professor of Ministerial Leadership
Andover Newton Theological School
STEPHANIE SPELLERS
Radical Welcome
Embracing God, The Other and the Spirit of Transformation
© 2006 by Stephanie Spellers
All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Spellers, Stephanie.
Radical welcome : embracing God, the other, and the spirit of transformation /
by Stephanie Spellers.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-0-89869-520-5
ISBN-10: 0-89869-520-1
ISBN 978-0-89869-794-0 (ebook)
1. Non-church-affiliated people. 2. Church work with ex-church members.
3. Evangelistic work. 4. Church growth. 5. Church development, New. I. Title.
BV4921.2.S64 2006
253—dc22
2006029171
Church Publishing, Incorporated.
445 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10016
For my mother, Phyllis Spellers, my biggest cheerleader and inspiration, who says she always knew I’d write a book someday. And for my entire family in Frankfort, Kentucky, who taught me how to swing open the doors and invite the whole community to the table.
Contents
Foreword: The Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston
Introduction to Radical Welcome
Part I: The Theology of Radical Welcome
Part II: The Picture of Radical Welcome
Part III: The Practice of Radical Welcome
