‘I wish every church said what this church says in their bulletin …’ Jon Acuff


He’s talking about the bulletin of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Community in Dunedin, Florida. Here’s what the bulletin says:

We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, gay, filthy rich, dirt poor, yo no habla Ingles. We extend a special welcome to those who are crying new-borns, skinny as a rail or could afford to lose a few pounds.

We welcome you if you can sing like Andrea Bocelli or like our pastor who can’t carry a note in a bucket. You’re welcome here if you’re “just browsing,” just woke up or just got out of jail. We don’t care if you’re more Catholic than the Pope, or haven’t been in church since little Joey’s Baptism.

We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not grown up yet, and to teenagers who are growing up too fast. We welcome soccer moms, NASCAR dads, starving artists, tree-huggers, latte-sippers, vegetarians, junk-food eaters. We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted. We welcome you if you’re having problems or you’re down in the dumps or if you don’t like “organized religion,” we’ve been there too.

If you blew all your offering money at the dog track, you’re welcome here. We offer a special welcome to those who think the earth is flat, work too hard, don’t work, can’t spell, or because grandma is in town and wanted to go to church.

We welcome those who are inked, pierced or both. We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now, had religion shoved down your throat as a kid or got lost in traffic and wound up here by mistake. We welcome tourists, seekers and doubters, bleeding hearts … and you!

What do you think?

One thought on “‘I wish every church said what this church says in their bulletin …’ Jon Acuff

  1. Amen. I also agree with your comment on FB about wanting help people change. I do think the “welcome” has to be real loud, however. It’s like the expression “love the sinner, hate the sin,” which I hate because the second phrase generally sounds so much louder than the first when people say it. And also because people tend to be rather selective about the use of that expression. Jesus never left people where they were when they came to him, unless they refused him. His ability to achieve that was in part because his welcome was so overpowering. We underestimate the power – and the universality – of grace.

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