Radical hospitality means more than treating people well when they walk through the church doors, said Bishop Robert Schnase recently to participants in a convocation of United Methodist bishops and their extended cabinets in Lake Junaluska, N.C.
Such hospitality offers people the embrace of Christ, is rooted is Scripture, welcomes the stranger and "is about congregations that have as much passion, desire and care for those who are not a part of the congregation as they do for those already a part of the congregation."
Congregations that want to be effective should engage in five core practices, he said. In addition to radical hospitality, the practices are passionate worship, intentional faith development, risk-taking mission and service, and extravagant generosity.
Prayer changes things!