Threshold Fear and the invitational Bridge
One person who accepted an invitation said to me “that it was an important help to get my foot across the door of the church!” Remarkable, that one might need help getting across the threshold of a church building where we are extremely proud of our welcome. I wonder what that says about the church’s welcome outside the bubble of the church. Unfortunately the church’s brilliant welcome does not seem to have filtered into the consciousness of the people of our nation that we are indeed welcoming. Many people who have been invited and then go on to stay, tell of their threshold fear. That fear could be to do with unworthiness. In the Weddings Project couples, not going to church on a regular basis, but wanting to get married, felt hypocritical. They feared that they were not good enough. It is not only the engaged that feel hypocritical and unworthy. The fear could also be about feeling embarrassed about not knowing anyone or not knowing what to do next. For the person who wants to come to church yet fears that step, an invitation can be crucial. A threshold can be the beginning of something new and vital, may we be a bridge to those who need help across it.