Isn’t the purpose of the church to welcome all people, regardless of their beliefs?

I ROUNDED off my summer at the Greenbelt Festival in Northamptonshire. It was, as ever, a great weekend with excellent music, stimulating and challenging speakers and opportunities to try new and unusual creative activities (willow weaving anyone?).

One person I met told me he worked for a group called Inclusive Church. A statement, explaining their purpose, speaks of “a church which celebrates and affirms every person and does not discriminate”. They add, “We believe in a church that welcomes and serves all people in the name of Jesus Christ”.

My first thought was to applaud the ethos. My second thought was: shouldn’t all churches be inclusive? Isn’t the purpose of the church to welcome all people, regardless of their background, financial status, beliefs or behaviour? Certainly Jesus seemed to major on inclusivity. “Come to me, all of you” he said. He also welcomed the outsider by saying, “I will never turn away anyone who comes to me”.

Sadly, too often, the reality falls short. Over the years I have met those who tell me that when they looked to the church for compassion, understanding and care, they encountered rejection, judgment and exclusion. The doors have been closed to some metaphorically if not literally. Not always, I should add, but once is too often. It is not enough to say on our noticeboards that “all are welcome” if the sub-text is: “you can come if you believe what we believe and behave as we behave”. Get that right, the message appears to say, and you can belong.

The start of the new school year often brings a campaign known as “Back to Church Sunday” when people are encouraged to give church attendance another go. I can only hope that those who respond to such a call will not be disappointed.

A frequent comment heard during my Greenbelt weekend was, “This is where I feel safe. This is where I belong”. Imagine a world where every church community evoked the same response. As one observed, “It is only impossible until you do it”.

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