Video Transcript: Church Programatic Hospitality and Grassroots Hospitality

Henry - Welcome back. Today, we're going to talk about church programmatic  hospitality and grassroots ministry hospitality. So to kind of set this up, in many  ways, the church programmatic hospitality is a is to be, maybe encouraged to be a feature of every church program, or even churches that have a specific  ministry in a specific area. And this class in the earlier parts now have dealt and  made a case for how it could really be connected to the programmatic and so  forth. This presentation will also make a case that maybe you like, maybe you're a person called to adopt a child, in a sense, that's not a program of the church.  That's just something to call in your personal ministry life. So you know, there is  that a little bit in in many churches would not want to take on a specific, personal family calling called role to be a hospital or a hospitality provider in an area. And  we're going to be getting soon in the presentation to talk about hospitaliers,  where it's like a specific role. And if you said to your pastor, oh, by the way, I like  to become a hospitalier for this local church, that Pastor may say. You know, our  church really doesn't offer services to immigrants or displaced people or so  forth, but I really like that, George, just go ahead and do that, see. So there is,  so this presentation sort of contrasts that and talks about both a little bit, just to  get a sort of perspective on what this is.  

Abby - So that's kind of what you're saying here, where there's the two types.  You kind of have the church programmatic hospitality, and then you have more  of a grassroots ministry, hospitality. And again, as we kind of shared with the  early church in the previous presentations, the early church really embraced  hospitality as core to the faith and and using that grassroots a lot, and then  sometimes it would develop in a maybe more programmatic church situation.  But a lot of the start was that grassroots hospitality, it's  

Henry - like this. You know, to be a Christian is transcends being a member of  any church. But what we're saying is, core to being a Christian is to be a person  who gives hospitality. And out of that core value or practice, you may be called  to take that in ways further. And there's so many examples that I don't even think we even think about it at times, that there's so many hospitality roles that just  are functions of being Christians. For instance, if a tornado happens in a  neighbor, for you know, against a neighbor, and you're fine. You You may not  know that neighbor, but the first thing that comes out of your thoughts are to get  over  

Abby - there, right and to help them and offer them, even if they need to stay at  your place, right, or you  

Henry - drive it along and there's an accident, and you just stop and help. Are  you okay? Can I help you? So in some ways this is so similar in that vein, but it 

also could have a programmatic side. And often the programmatic side is what  people get attached to, and they forget that this is just part of  

Abby - every Christian walk, yes. So the programmatic hospitality, you know,  some examples of that. Again, it's formal. It's organized like soup kitchens, the  welcome committees, you know, specific outreach ministries. You know, that's  one of the ways that you'll see the programmatic and some of that  characteristics there, the consistency, the visibility, the scale, right?  

Henry - So, in other words, it's like clear program that has clear objectives,  yeah, clear deliverables, yes, okay.  

Abby - The grass roots, though, takes a different approach,  

Henry - informal, spontaneous acts of love by individuals inspired by Jesus,  example of eating with tax collectors and sinners.  

Abby - So that's the personal invitations, the discipleship, cultural sensitivity, the barrier breaking. You know, that's where that grassroots movement really  shines, again, in that early church, and even Jesus' own example. So again,  rooted in the believers daily lives, breaking social norms. You know, again, going back to both Jesus's hospitality as well as Paul's call to practice hospitality,  which, again, that word meaning love of strangers. So  

Henry - that you see these passages again. But in this way, what often happens in a church, those would be the passages that will onboard people into the  program of doing it. The formalized level, which is very appropriate. But a lot of  times what we do is we take that and leave that there, right? It's sort of like our  hospitality quotient grassroots level dealt with. So we really don't need to worry  about that anymore,  

Abby - extending hospitality beyond a meal. So Christian homes could become  a short term residence for those who are displaced. So serving refugees,  divorced, unemployed, victims of trafficking, and just offering care that  transforms lives. So that's kind of talking now about a hospitality that, yeah,  goes beyond just an invitation to your house, right? So  

Henry - now things are extending to new levels and new directions, and that's  really what this class starts to think about. So on one level, where  

Abby - the host minister could really end up landing is very much so actually  providing the short term living for someone who really needs it. 

Henry - Right now, there's still a formal piece to this, and this is really where  that thing comes out. Okay, so Christian leaders, Alliance, credentials, ministers, well, this is a certification specialization, whatever you want to call it, of a  ministry training host, Minister, whether it's lay, whether it's a clergy person, it's a now here you have sort of a programmatic, that is the program of a religious  nonprofit, a religious society, mobilizing Ministers on one level. That's  programmatic. But then really tying into people's personal grassroots interest.  So in a sense, it brings together something programmatic and training wise,  you're getting ministry training here, but it also maintains that this is a grassroots type of role, yeah, that may not be connected to a another programmatic church, or it could be, or it could be connected to, let's say, a release relief agency. It  could be, you know, so it has a lot of flexibility and connection possibilities.  

Abby - Yes. So the role of a host minister, again, it's creating that safe space for care, so sharing the Christian faith and providing trauma, informed care and  helping any guests transition into their next step. So I definitely see this host  Minister role as kind of, you're becoming a safe space and then a launcher for  somebody. And then most of all, you're getting to share the Christian faith during that entire process of taking them into this safe space to then launching them  into their next step in life.  

Henry - So this is definitely that next piece, taking hospitality now deeper is  more now a calling, very much a ministry calling, so breaking the societal  barriers through open homes and meals, fostering deep relationships and  relational discipleship. Mission is lifestyle, not just a program. Yeah,  

Abby - the early church hospitality. It was daily. It was breaking barriers. It was  extended. Extending Christ's love, and we're called to blend both, that  programmatic, you know, hospitality as well as the grassroots approach, and  that's what's really going to lead to, again, that holistic, radical hospitality that  transforms lives and communities.  

Henry - So this presentation now sets up the next presentations where we're  going to explore a very specific role in that grassroots level. And so we're not  going to tell you what it is yet, because this is like the big reveal in the next  presentation, and it's a host Minister role. We call it a specific thing just because  we're inspired by historical role that came out of Christianity in the past, but it is  a host minister, but it's very specific. So next time, tune in.