My wife once had an awkward experience. She decided to attend a meeting held at a local church for mothers of young children. Unfortunately, she had mistaken the time the meeting started and showed up half an hour late. While my wife is very punctual, mothers always show up late to things, so it should have been no big deal, right? Wrong.
The group was doing something special for this meeting and so they were meeting in the foyer where the church entrance is. Not only were they meeting where she had to walk in, but the speaker’s back was to the door and consequently everyone was looking at the door. So, my wife had to attempt to sneak in as discretely as possible.
Just one problem. The only person she knew was the woman who was speaking. So, to top things off this woman decided to pause in the middle of her sentence and escort Cheryl and my daughter to childcare.
Avoiding the Uncomfortable
Making friends in a new place after an entrance like that isn’t exactly easy, but at least everyone recognizes your face already. Super awkward. Thankfully, my wife and I had a good laugh about it later and she was able to get over it.
Unfortunately, not everyone is able to recover so gracefully from uncomfortable moments. And while sometimes we’ll have to face these moments and they can help us grow, most of the time when they happen in our meetings it keeps people from coming back.
In a culture where many see Christians as intolerant and unloving, we want people to feel as welcome as possible.
I like the picture above that a Catholic church put in their bulletins to express their choice to welcome everyone. In fact, I think it’s a great picture of Christ. While we certainly can’t condone every choice that people make, we must remember that no one has the ability to exemplify true love more than the Church. This bulletin insert helps people feel accepted and safe from the moment they walk in the doors.
So, Ryan and I wanted to touch on things over these next couple weeks that can help us think about ways to improve our meetings before next semester to avoid those unpleasant occasions and help people feel welcome. Hopefully it will help your group be better prepared to welcome people this fall. What about you? Can you remember an awkward moment you’ve experienced?