Hospitality

“Those who receive you receive me, and those who receive me receive the One who sent me.” — Matthew 10:40

Henri Nouwen spoke of hospitality in this way:
“More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them.”

Oasis is a place where people matter and amongst other things, we are known for our great welcome but what happens after we have said hello is important too.
We are a busy church with established friendship and social groups where, after the initial welcome, visitors can sometimes somehow fall between the cracks of our social groupings; sometimes we can all think that someone else will be talking to “those people over there”- indeed, when we look we may see them speaking to someone else, but is what is really going on no more than a passing conversation leaving a continued sense of isolation?
In order that we can really “follow through” on our welcome, we have a team of folk who are serving in a ministry which he sees as fundamental in defining the loving character of OCC, Hospitality.
In her book Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition Christine D. Pohl says, “Hospitality should be understood as a way of life rather than as a task or strategy. It is easy to slip into viewing hospitality as a strategy for reaching migrants and refugees, or for that matter, for reaching postmodern youth or homeless people. But such an approach misunderstands the basic orientation of hospitality. Hospitality is not a means to an end; it is a way of life infused by the gospel.”




Whilst the Hospitality Ministry sits clearly within the strategy and purpose of OCC to be a Jesus centred “Place where people matter”, we wanted to highlight that this is an “other” centred ministry through which people will come to know they are valued as we will take time to understand their needs.
To quote Henri Nouwen again, “Hospitality… means primarily the creation of a free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place.”
So what does all this mean practically?
This shouldn’t be confused with Entertaining which is fundamentally "me-focused."
• It has the feel of a show and it's heart is impressing other people either visually or with a meal.
• It is embarrassed if something "goes wrong" or doesn't fit the kind of reputation it is trying to project or protect.
• It is essentially prideful and hopes to be repaid.
• It carries an air of formality that prohibits spiritual intimacy and fellowship.
• It tends not to associate with the "lowly."
Biblical hospitality is humble.
• It attempts to make people feel comfortable; creating an atmosphere where people can be themselves, fellowship together, and where ministry can take place.
• It doesn't seek to hide areas of weakness or flaws - these are assumed.
• It recognizes that the importance of any other person rests in their having been made in the image of God, not their social status.
• It is servanthood that desires God to receive glory by time spent with others.
• It is open to the needy and doesn't seek repayment.
• It points unbelievers and those who are weak toward the Gospel.
The Hospitality Team is like a door into OCC where we will take time to get to know newcomers, creating space to:
• Explain our vision and values.
• Understand the needs and gifting of the newcomers.
• Connect them to others in OCC who can help them on their journey with Jesus.


As Christine D. Pohl says, “Hospitality begins at the gate, in the doorway, on the bridges between public and private space. Finding and creating threshold places is important for contemporary expressions of hospitality.”
We would hope to do this by:
• Holding gathering meetings on neutral ground (such as the OCC facility in Plymouth Road) with bring and share events or lunches after the main Sunday service.
• Here we can start to build relationship, understand need and move forward to next stages of hospitality.
• Where.
• We seek to connect our guests with others at OCC who share similar family circumstances, lifestyles, gifts or ministries where their gifts can be built up and established.
• We ensure that we maintain regular contact with our guests after this and be available where practically possible to offer help or guidance as needed.
• We seek to establish further space as necessary so that true relationship can be developed in a more intimate setting and needs & gifts understood more fully, offering time in our homes or places that all find comfortable to develop deeper relationship
• Feeding information back to the Pastoral team where appropriate to enable OCC to more fully support those who feel called to serve Jesus alongside us.
Together we can learn the biblical and historical basis for hospitality and also come to understand:
• Hospitality to strangers;
• Hospitality to children and youth;
• Hospitality to church members;
• Hospitality to those who make us uncomfortable.

“When hostility is converted into hospitality then fearful strangers . . . become guests revealing to their hosts the promise they are carrying with them. Then, in fact, the distinction between host and guest proves to be artificial and evaporates in the recognition of the new found unity.”
— Henri Nouwen