Wisely, bob.blog goes on to admit the difficulties:Again, it's the individual's responsiblity to connect, but if everything in the atmosphere of the place communicates a message that "connecting here is an uphill battle" and "Sure, we love it that you are here, Parishoner Number 4,513!" then many people will choose to exit out the back door.
This is a hard discussion to have for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that we are talking about a LOT of different kinds of people. There are those who want community handed to them without doing the work of building relationships, showing up and being present, putting yourself out there. Believe me—they exist.
Then there are people who are genuinely less skilled at building relationships and need some help from a community. They need to be reassured time and again that they are welcomed, they need someone to notice that they are floating a bit and have people reach out to them.
And then there are those who are just hurting—they have been damaged by life and they need a community to embrace them because right now, embracing others is a practical impossiblity.
Food for thought...
Posted by ronlusk at December 10, 2006 08:24 PM