Letter from Jackie Hird
Licensed Lay Minister at Otley Parish Church
Those of us attending Church in person were recently set the challenge of learning some new names. You get a gold star if you learnt 5, silver for 3 and bronze for 1. The challenge came from the realisation that we have had the joy of lots of new folk join us at OPC recently and wanted to get to know each other better.
If you are one of those who are new to OPC then on behalf of the church, WELCOME. We hope you quickly feel at home here. We hope we can help you on your faith journey. If you wouldn’t class yourself as a follower of Jesus, we would love to explore things with you. If you are someone who would describe themselves as a Christian, you may have noticed we are taking seriously Jesus’ instruction to “make Disciples”. We don’t want to just call ourselves Christian we want to help we each other follow Jesus, orientating our lives around what he taught and how he lived. That involves some training rather than just trying hard and hoping for the best.
So much of being a disciple is much more than what I personally believe or do. It is also about my relationship with others and how I treat them. We regularly say the greatest commandment in our services. “Love the Lord your God…AND love your neighbour as yourself.” Discipleship is not just about the first part but the second part too.
We are proud of the welcome we give at OPC and see it as part of loving our neighbour. The commandment includes our Church family neighbours! We start with a warm greeting as you arrive and some quality coffee after the service. But real welcome, real loving, means appreciating that we are all different, and have different preferences and needs. It means including all, not just tolerating all. It means seeing all as made in God’s image, loved equally by God.
A church of disciples, learning to be more like Jesus will be full of warmth and acceptance. It will feel safe to share our joys and success but also our pains and disappointments and even our doubts. It will be a place of freedom from masks or pretence and will be a place of honesty, a place to come when you feel you are succeeding at life and a place to run to when you have crawled through the week on your knees, and a place where children will be cherished and appreciated and included whatever their age or stage, personality, or additional needs.
The church isn’t “them over there” or the super spiritual or even the Vicar. It’s us! All of us. We are all responsible for making and maintaining a “love your neighbour “kind of church. That can be as simple as being aware who is on their own and sitting with them. Or looking for someone who may need a warm greeting and a genuine “How are things going for you?”. It might even be thinking a minute before we jump to make judgements about other people, adults, and children.
If there is something that is a barrier to you feeling at home with us, please speak to one of the leaders and together we can try to find a solution. You are not on your own.
At OPC we want there to be a place for everyone, with Christ at the centre. As we grow as disciples, increasingly putting Christ at the centre of our lives, we will tangibly feel the reality of there being a place where everyone feels welcome.
