Welcome: Loving Your Church by Making Space for Everyone

by Jen Oshman, Tim Challies (Foreword by)

Overview

Walking into church can be intimidating, whether for the first time or after a period of absence, whether you are a non-believer or a believer. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if your church was a place where everyone received a warm welcome? A place where newcomers can quickly feel at home and where non-believers receive the welcome of God’s people alongside the welcome of Jesus?

This warm, practical book by Jen Oshman explores what the Bible says to help readers discover how to make space for others, however different they are to them, in their church and in their lives. She also gives practical advice, drawing on good practice from churches around the world in a range of situations. In a world of division, individualism and isolation, readers will see that their church can witness to Christ by being a place of welcome, community and connection.

Whether you’re a pastor looking to encourage your congregation to welcome others or a church member wanting to see unbelievers come to faith and help everyone feel part of the family, this resource is for you.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781784988289
Publisher:	The Good Book Company
Publication date:	01/01/2023
Series:	Love Your Church
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	5.04(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.39(d)

About the Author

Jen Oshman is a writer, podcaster, pastor’s wife, and mom of four daughters. She has served as a missionary and church planter for over two decades on three continents. She currently resides in Colorado, where she is the Director of Women’s Ministry at Redemption Parker.

Tim Challies is a blogger, pastor and author. His blog, challies.com, is one of the most widely read Christian blogs in the world. Tim's books include From the Rising of the Sun; Epic: An Around-the-World Journey Through Christian History; and the award-winning Seasons of Sorrow. Tim serves as an elder at Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto.

Table of Contents

Foreword 9

Introduction 13

1 How Jesus Welcomes Us 19

2 The Radical Welcome of the Early Church 31

3 This Church Opens Wide Her Doors 45

4 Welcome to the Family 59

5 Welcoming Way Beyond Sunday 75

6 Systems and Strategies for Sunday and Every Day 91

7 Outward and Onward 105

Conclusion 119

Discussion Guide for Small Groups 123

Acknowledgments 133

Editorial Reviews

Jen offers theological reasons and practical action steps for churches and individuals wanting to practice the radical welcome of Jesus on a regular basis in their local church community. This book will encourage and equip you to see yourself as a partner with God in his kingdom work—on Sundays and beyond!

Amy Gannett (Author

Quality welcome, quality teaching, and quality hospitality are three key ingredients of a flourishing church. Jen highlights the two of these that all Christians need to reflect in their personal lives if the body of Christ is to demonstrate his grace. She reminds us that the God who has welcomed us—welcomed you!—can use us to welcome others. What a privilege that is. How significant that is! So, read this book and absorb some of Jen’s lovely insights.

Ray Evans (FIEC Leadership Consultant; formerly Lead Pastor

Welcome provides biblical encouragement to mirror the work of our kind and hospitable God. Jen Oshman encourages readers to sacrificially welcome others as Christ welcomed us. I want to give every member of my local church a copy of this compelling book!

Hunter Beless (Founder and Host

The gospel should create a culture of welcome (Romans 15:7) so that the local church is, as Jen Oshman beautifully puts it, ‘a porch light in a dark night.’ This is all the more important in a time of deep loneliness and fragmentation. This wonderful book will help both church leaders and regular members build a culture in their churches that reflects the welcome of the gospel. It is filled with practical ideas, biblical and historical wisdom, and counsel that touches the heart. Highly recommended! (Founder

In this heartfelt, clear, and convicting book, Jen wonderfully shows us the importance of welcoming others as Christ has welcomed us. Through biblical insight, lived experience, and encouraging stories of her dear friends welcoming people in many different contexts, Jen gives the reader space to contemplate the importance of being a welcoming people and a welcoming church, not only on a Sunday but every day, and not only for the growth of your church but for the growth of the kingdom worldwide. This is a book that I want to put into the hands of every member of my church.

Steve Robinson (Senior Pastor Cornerstone Church

Those who have experienced God’s extravagant welcome in Christ should be obsessed with sharing it as widely and generously as we can. Yet it is easy to be inward-focused, comfortable in our church communities, and blind to the needs of our neighbours—and to the barriers that get in the way of them joining us. Jen Oshman draws on the Scriptures and her own experiences of church-planting and cross-cultural missions to show how our churches can be places of welcome and belonging for everyone. Written with warmth and wisdom, this book will inspire and equip individuals and church families to reflect the welcome of our Saviour.

Carolyn Lacey (Author of Say the Right Thing and Extraordinary Hospitality (for Ordinary People).)

The most welcoming place on the planet should be the church, and the most welcoming people on the planet should be Christians. Why? So that sinners can hear the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In Welcome, we are invited to fling open the doors of the church and open the doors of our lives so that all people will have the chance to hear about who Jesus is and what he has accomplished for a lost and dying world.

J.T. English (Lead Pastor

Those who have experienced God’s extravagant welcome in Christ should be obsessed with sharing it as widely and generously as we can. Yet it is easy to be inward-focused, comfortable in our church communities, and blind to the needs of our neighbours—and to the barriers that get in the way of them joining us. Jen Oshman draws on the Scriptures and her own experiences of church-planting and cross-cultural missions to show how our churches can be places of welcome and belonging for everyone. Written with warmth and wisdom, this book will inspire and equip individuals and church families to reflect the welcome of our Saviour.

Carolyn Lacey (Author of 'Say the Right Thing' and 'Extraordinary Hospitality (for Ordinary Peopl

Those who have experienced God’s extravagant welcome in Christ should be obsessed with sharing it as widely and generously as we can. Yet it is easy to be inward-focused, comfortable in our church communities, and blind to the needs of our neighbours—and to the barriers that get in the way of them joining us. Jen Oshman draws on the Scriptures and her own experiences of church-planting and cross-cultural missions to show how our churches can be places of welcome and belonging for everyone. Written with warmth and wisdom, this book will inspire and equip individuals and church families to reflect the welcome of our Saviour.

Carolyn Lacey (Speaker and author)

The gospel should create a culture of welcome (Romans 15:7) so that the local church is, as Jen Oshman beautifully puts it, ‘a porch light in a dark night.’ This is all the more important in a time of deep loneliness and fragmentation. This wonderful book will help both church leaders and regular members build a culture in their churches that reflects the welcome of the gospel. It is filled with practical ideas, biblical and historical wisdom, and counsel that touches the heart. Highly recommended!

Gavin Ortlund (Author

Those who have experienced God’s extravagant welcome in Christ should be obsessed with sharing it as widely and generously as we can. Yet it is easy to be inward-focused, comfortable in our church communities, and blind to the needs of our neighbours—and to the barriers that get in the way of them joining us. Jen Oshman draws on the Scriptures and her own experiences of church-planting and cross-cultural missions to show how our churches can be places of welcome and belonging for everyone. Written with warmth and wisdom, this book will inspire and equip individuals and church families to reflect the welcome of our Saviour.

Carolyn Lacey (Women’s Worker

In this heartfelt, clear, and convicting book, Jen wonderfully shows us the importance of welcoming others as Christ has welcomed us. Through biblical insight, lived experience, and encouraging stories of her dear friends welcoming people in many different contexts, Jen gives the reader space to contemplate the importance of being a welcoming people and a welcoming church, not only on a Sunday but every day, and not only for the growth of your church but for the growth of the kingdom worldwide. This is a book that I want to put into the hands of every member of my church.

Steve Robinson (Senior Pastor

Welcome provides biblical encouragement to mirror the work of our kind and hospitable God. Jen Oshman encourages readers to sacrificially welcome others as Christ welcomed us. I want to give every member of my local church a copy of this compelling book!

Hunter Beless (Host