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Inclusive
May 1, 2007
Dear Friends,
I received the following e-mail from a friend of mine
recently.
“Those who are leading worship today must remember that it
should be conducted in accordance with the above
regulation, the Europäisches Gottesdienstbefehl 10407, or
European Worship Directive 10407, which comes into force
today. The intention of the Directive is that worship
should include greetings in as many European languages as
possible, so as to be inclusive of any who may be present,
and should be introduced by the liturgical greeting
"Poisson d'avril!" So: Bonjour, guten morgen, buongiorno,
tere tere!”
As it was April 1st it did not take me too long to work out
the joke but it led me to reflect on a couple of serious
things behind it:
• Firstly, if you are like me you do at times feel
regulations and red tape have gone too far, so it would not
surprise me if really odd things became regulations.
• Secondly, and more importantly, we do want our Churches
and our worship to be welcoming and inclusive in the best
possible way and that is certainly one of our hopes as our
new halls are now open for use.
Those of us who were at Spring Harvest recently heard
teaching about the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church
and were reminded that “Catholic” meant universal and in
that sense inclusive. We were exhorted to bring down any
man-made barriers but somehow keep God’s boundaries very
firm. As we celebrate the Ascension of Jesus and Pentecost
during May, it is good to remember that as Jesus departed
from His followers, He commissioned them to reach out to
all people. Our teaching series, starting April 29th is
entitled “Sharing the Good News of Jesus” and thinks about
that Good News for all people, both globally and locally.
What a privilege to be part of God’s people and to hear His
call to share with others. May He bless you in that task.
With warmest Christian Greetings
Kath Pawlett
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