Anything can happen and bad things do happen. No wonder the first greeting every biblical angel gives to a human person is this: “Do not be afraid!” Yet, forgive me for daring to coach angels, but I wonder if it wouldn’t be been better to say, “Courage! Be brave!” After all, a certain amount of fear is warranted. As they say, you only get one chance to make a first (and lasting) impression. How and whether they are greeted, whether someone, anyone remembers their name on the second visit, these experiences matter deeply. Others are driven to us out of intense loneliness they are aching for community. We know, for instance, that some are prompted to venture into our church for the very first time because they are in the grip of a crisis. I can’t tell you how many times our Old South Church hospitality has made the difference in a visitor’s life. Paul admonishes us: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2). Who doesn’t trust Elias to keep us safe?! In the words of Jesus, we aim to be “wise as serpents, yet gentle as doves” (Matthew 10:16).Īt Old South Church in Boston, hospitality is a theological commitment to the God who commissions us to welcome the stranger, because we were once strangers ourselves, and because, as St. In addition, our Senior Sexton Elias Perez keeps a watchful eye on all who enter the building. Each Sunday’s Head Usher has the job of watching over the assigned ushers and addressing any concerns as they arise, acting as a roving usher. Those who manage the jigsaw puzzle of Sunday hospitality assignments, work hard to make sure that among any group of ushers on a given Sunday are those who are able-bodied and handy with a cell phone. They keep watch over the people in the section they have been assigned. They are asked to look out for worrying behaviors: the agitated visitor, the unattended backpack. Today’s ushers are asked to remain attentive, Welcoming and Watchful, eyes trained on the open doors, on visitors, tourists, and strangers. While in earlier decades it was fine for ushers to take a seat once worship had begun (job well done), or to turn their backs on the open door, or to spend ushering-time in friendly conversation with an usher-mate, no more. Who among us has not considered that all it takes is a single, enraged, deranged, or evil person to bring grievous harm to many? As a consequence, today’s Old South Church ushers practice a posture we call Welcoming and Watchful (coined by former Senior Church Deacon Candace Kosturko). We cannot but laud, and perhaps identify with a Burnette Chapel usher, Robert Engle, who pounced on the shooter, undoubtedly saved lives and was, himself, injured. We wrap the people of these churches in soft, strong bands of prayer, asking that God may provide impossible comfort to those who grieve.Īs I reflect upon the horrors visited upon these small churches, these soft targets, I am reminded that the practice of church ushering is not what it used to be. God help us for the grizzly business of needing to count in this way. On September 24, a gunman entered Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Tennessee and opened fire upon worshippers. The building itself was so badly damaged by the barrage of gunfire from a semi-automatic weapon that it may be beyond repair.

Over 20 are injured, ten of whom remain in critical condition.

Last Sunday, a man entered the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas and opened fire on worshippers.

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