(I visited this Church in 2010.)
As I parked down the street from the Woo, on Main Street in Worcester, MA, I noticed a sign on a chair a few feet from the entrance. Walking up I checked it out.
"Please smoke here."
What an odd thing to say! Many churches no longer have a place to smoke at all, but even buildings with smoking areas normally have huge signs everywhere telling us NOT to smoke. "Please smoke here" made me grin.
I entered through the dark side door clearly marked ENTER HERE with another handwritten sign. Two women stood in front of a table covered with flyers, books, and other handouts.
"Welcome" they said. "Coffee and pastries are back there, and you are free to sit anywhere for worship".
After the little entryway the coffee and worship were both set-up in what must have once been the social hall of this large church building. The coffee was set-up in pass-through windows, and the pastries were abundant and free. I checked, no basket for "donations".
People carried coffee to their seats (folding chairs aimed at a stage of sorts), or stood in the wide aisles or in the back. The space was uncrowded--probably room for 75 to sit, and 50 people present, wide aisles in the seating and lots of room between rows, so it was easy to stand or sit, and easy to visit with one another.
It all said "relax". It all said "welcome". I thought of all the churches that describe themselves as friendly, and all the churches where I visited awkwardly and alone. I could tell quickly that this is a friendly church.
The space, the signs, the people all communicated permission giving. Permission to eat and drink, permission to sit and stand, but more than that permission to not know what was going on. Everything had signs, every sign made no assumptions about what you would understand. The coffee said "free coffee", the pastries were offered as free pastries, the welcome assured us that none of the seats were reserved. We could take coffee and pastries, flyers and bulletins, comfort and confusion with us to our seats.
Opening the bulletin it explained when the coffee would stop being served and what to do when the the service began. It invited us to sing along, or to not, to stand and clap, or to sit and listen. At the prayers and at communion and at the offering we were told: "here is what many of us do, you can too, if you'd like". It was always ok to take part, it was always ok to hold back.
"Please smoke here" was part of that plan. It said "yes" to whatever you wanted to do, and then told us where the limits were for where to do it. "Please smoke here" was the first message of welcome at this friendly church.
As I parked down the street from the Woo, on Main Street in Worcester, MA, I noticed a sign on a chair a few feet from the entrance. Walking up I checked it out.
"Please smoke here."
What an odd thing to say! Many churches no longer have a place to smoke at all, but even buildings with smoking areas normally have huge signs everywhere telling us NOT to smoke. "Please smoke here" made me grin.
I entered through the dark side door clearly marked ENTER HERE with another handwritten sign. Two women stood in front of a table covered with flyers, books, and other handouts.
"Welcome" they said. "Coffee and pastries are back there, and you are free to sit anywhere for worship".
After the little entryway the coffee and worship were both set-up in what must have once been the social hall of this large church building. The coffee was set-up in pass-through windows, and the pastries were abundant and free. I checked, no basket for "donations".
People carried coffee to their seats (folding chairs aimed at a stage of sorts), or stood in the wide aisles or in the back. The space was uncrowded--probably room for 75 to sit, and 50 people present, wide aisles in the seating and lots of room between rows, so it was easy to stand or sit, and easy to visit with one another.
It all said "relax". It all said "welcome". I thought of all the churches that describe themselves as friendly, and all the churches where I visited awkwardly and alone. I could tell quickly that this is a friendly church.
The space, the signs, the people all communicated permission giving. Permission to eat and drink, permission to sit and stand, but more than that permission to not know what was going on. Everything had signs, every sign made no assumptions about what you would understand. The coffee said "free coffee", the pastries were offered as free pastries, the welcome assured us that none of the seats were reserved. We could take coffee and pastries, flyers and bulletins, comfort and confusion with us to our seats.
Opening the bulletin it explained when the coffee would stop being served and what to do when the the service began. It invited us to sing along, or to not, to stand and clap, or to sit and listen. At the prayers and at communion and at the offering we were told: "here is what many of us do, you can too, if you'd like". It was always ok to take part, it was always ok to hold back.
"Please smoke here" was part of that plan. It said "yes" to whatever you wanted to do, and then told us where the limits were for where to do it. "Please smoke here" was the first message of welcome at this friendly church.
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