The Church is a community of both guests and hosts, and hospitality is a prominent feature of an Anabaptist-oriented church. Welcoming each other and welcoming the stranger (even the enemy), stretching out hands, opening doors and hearts; doing these things opens our eyes to the needs of people around us (the lonely and alienated living next to us who need shelter, a safe place to be). Hospitality offers challenges and surprises: the Bible tells us that we might even be accommodating angels. Both Martha and Mary (Luke 10) are needed to host Jesus.

This seminar will explore both the biblical features of hospitality as well as the ways our churches can put these into practice. To lead us in this exploration, we are pleased to welcome Andrea Lange, a German Mennonite pastor and theologian whose church spent a year working on this theme/concept of church development, inspired by Dutch Theologian Jan Hendriks (Gemeente als Herberg, 1999).

As we consider the future of the church after Christendom, the church as a hostel is a theme of vital importance. Don’t miss this chance to discuss it together.

Saturday 26 April at the LMC
9:30 am. – 4:00 pm.
Fee: £20 (£10 unwaged)
Fee includes VAT and meal
C-C Seminar No 294

Recommended reading: A Christian View of Hospitality: Expecting Surprises by Michelle Hershberger; Untamed Hospitality: Welcoming God and Other Strangers by Elizabeth Newman; I Was a Stranger: A Christian Theology of Hospitality by Arthur Sutherland; Books in German: Gemeinde als Herberge. Kirche im 21. Jahrhundert - eine konkrete Utopie by Jan Hendriks, Gütersloh, 2001; Unterwegs zur Herberge. Schritte zu einer gastfreundlichen Gemeinde by Jan Hendriks, Waltrop, 2005

Andrea Lange is pastor of the Weierhof Mennonite Church in Southwest Germany. She studied theology at the University of Heidelberg and at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana. USA. Andrea lives with her husband and cat in a small village and enjoys having guests and being one.