Meet And Greet time

To tell you the truth buddy, oh never mind:tongue3:

anyway, I prefer dogs to people....if they are going to sh## on the rug, then they do it....may not smell nice but at least its direct. :laugh:

 

Bro. EW&F,

Apparently you consider a non-house-broken dog as being more important than a person who's got a soul that'll spend eternity in only one of two places.

If that's your estimation of a person for whom Christ died, then so be it. It's not mine, & if you'd take the time to look in God's Word what it has to say about dogs, it doesn't seem to line up with your apparently strained perspective of the value of a human's soul as contrasted with that of a canine's soul.

Maybe you aren't cut out to be an overtly kind of "meet & greet" person. I was like that for the first couple years as a born-again believer.

It took the wise counsel from my pastor at that time to get me to realize that I needed to be more open to newcomers to our church--not that I need to tackle every single visitor at our church's front door, but at least show a newcomer that I was glad to see him & his family visit with us for our corporate worship service.

You may wish to view this "meeting & greeting" subject differently than I do. That's okay with me, but don't expect me to visit a church like yours if that's the way you are determined to not to make a newcomer welcomed.

Thankfully there are other churches that do care enough to consider people somewhat more valuable to Jesus than an old dog that's beyond the stage of being house-broken.

 

well never had a dog backstab me, never had one lie to me, nor did I ever have one argue with me, cheat me, steal from me.....etc, etc, etc. Never saw a dog who is a pedophile, a sociopath, a scumbag........however when I evaluate humans, I cant say that.

 

Am I to infer that you view every newcomer to your church as either a backstabber, or a liar, or one bent on arguing with you as he enters your church's front door, or a person determined to cheat you out of something, or one who's about to rob you as you try to shake his hand?

Moreover, the inference I get from your post is that you seem to consider any visitor to your church to be a pedophile, or a sociopath, or a scumbag.

I know that there some people who actually may fit those kinds of categories, but that by itself doesn't mean that everybody is.

I'm thankful I don't live close to your house. From the way you posted, I seems to me that you probably have your property walled off with high voltage razor wire, your yard mined with IED's, guarded by those dogs you seem to love more than all humans, every square inch of your castle under 24/7/365 security cameras, and probably with an arsenal of high-powered firearms and hand grenades to top it off.

If I had neighbors like you seem to be, I'd be looking for another town as far away from you as possible.....because I could never really be sure that you'd.......................:thumbs:

 

Ahhhh haaa haaaaa.......:laugh:

So we loose Jon and we get you:laugh:

 

I am OK with it either way. At our church, we do have the "meet and greet" time, the same time the children are dismissed to their service. It's an opportunity to greet those around you. They might be newcomers, old timers or others that you simply don't know. Also, it's recognition that we don't worship in a vacuum, but we worship together as a community of faith.

 

Maybe that depends on your geographic location....and how far a Golden Corral is in your area :love2:

 

I guess it depends on the individuals. For the most part, I think so - though I'm sure it varies. In addition, some of the church staff are especially gifted in meeting new attendees, getting to know them, introducing them to others, etc.

 

Not a Golden Corral fan. Thankfully, none in the area.

We do have fruit, juice, coffee, Cuban bread and Café con Leche in the courtyards between services for fellowship as well. This is a very casual atmosphere and allows you to meet people in a more relaxed, less hurried setting - unless service is getting ready to start.

Also, occasionally we have meals after church on the front lawn and are strongly encouraged from the pulpit to sit with those we do not know. However, we have to wait for summer to be over before we do this.

 

Nope. Hate it, hate it, hate it!!

 

Interesting that so many people dislike this. A few weeks ago, a woman behind us (first time guest) mentioned how friendly people are, so I guess that she liked this. Last week, I was able to introduce two new guests (who are professional musicians) to friend who is also a musician (plus he is a music professor), as I knew they would have that in common. Personally, I think it's a great way to connect.

 

I'm all in favor of how we do our "meet and greet" time.

Nobody is required to get up and move around and shake hands with other folks if they don't want to.

Getting around in my church's auditorium has always been somewhat of a challenge for me because I was born with an inner ear balance problem which became evident when I tried to ride a bicycle--I could only go a couple feet before I'd find myself falling off the bike.

Then too there's the topography of our main church's auditorium. It's built on a very steep angle due to the fact that immediately beneath it lies a huge rock that made our auditorium's floor to slant downward at an almost a 40 degree.

When you factor all that plus my having a stroke about 5 years ago, it's just not easy for me to get around during "meet and greet" time.

OTOH, I still enjoy participating in it.

 

I believe it was due to her interactions with people before the service started.