Ridgell's Originals

I don't do it often, but I found myself visiting a church last weekend. And not as the visiting preacher. I do lots of that kind of visiting, and everyone meets and greets the visiting preacher. If they are not meeting me, then I am busy introducing myself (after all, the visiting preacher is supposed to be friendly). But last weekend I visited a church because I had to meet someone there. I got there right about the middle of class, walked in, and stood in the foyer. Just as an experiment, I decided to see how long before someone welcomed me.

It took eleven minutes. I did get a few nods, and several people did look at me (I guess to see if they could figure out who I was). Even the people with the "welcome" badges on didn't welcome me. Finally an older gentleman came in, saw me, and walked right over to introduce himself. When he found out I was with Herald of Truth, he helped me find the person I was there to meet. They introduced me to lots of people and they were all friendly, warm, and welcoming.

But I can't help but wonder what would have happened if I had just been a random visitor looking for answers in my life. Would I have stayed eleven minutes before I gave up and went somewhere else?

How do visitors do where you go to church? I'm going to do better. And thanks Chester, for going out of your way to make this visitor feel welcome.