Shane (Covenant OPC, Hammond, WI) has taken us on a thorough journey of how to be a welcoming church, including the role of the pastor and the congregation (Series Posts). We are thankful for his work and thoughts from someone who is on the field trying to implement these things! This week he closes with […]
Shane Lems: Welcoming Church
A Welcoming Congregation – Part 2 (Practical Action)
Last week, OPC Pastor Shane Lems gave us some great illustrations of how to think about welcoming visitors to our church (Part 1). Now, it’s time to take action. Shane gives 10 practical ways church members can welcome visitors. Maybe you could discuss these as a family, or an outreach committee could use them to […]
A Welcoming Congregation (by Shane Lems) – Part 1
Here’s a multiple choice question to get us thinking about visitors in church: When you see a visitor on Sunday, what do you usually do? A) I try not to stare. B) Visitors? I never notice visitors. C) Nothing. I’m afraid to talk to new people. D) I try to at least say hello and […]
Welcoming Pastor (by Shane Lems) – Part 3
Last week, Shane Lems explored some insightful thoughts on being a welcoming pastor in leading worship and preaching (Welcoming Pastor – Part 2). Here’s Shane continuing to look at the pastor’s interaction with visitors: Love in Conversation Another angle of being a welcoming pastor is that we show love in conversations. Whether we talk to […]
Welcoming Pastor (by Shane Lems) – Part 2
Last week Shane explored the biblical background and role of a pastor in leading the way in being welcoming (Part 1). Now, he digs into the practical ways to implement those principles. Here’s Shane: Practical: Love in Leading Worship & Preaching In many ways, the pastor sets the tone for worship. In Reformed churches we […]
The Welcoming Pastor (by Shane Lems) – Part 1
In the first part of this series, Shane Lems took us through a 3-part approach to being a welcoming church: biblical, balanced, and a missionary bent. You can read those posts here: (Welcoming Church). Later in the series Shane will focus on the congregation, but in this second part he focuses on the pastor. Over […]
Welcoming Church (Shane Lems): Part 2 – A Missionary Bent
In this series so far, Shane has set up a three-pronged approach to being a welcoming church. Last week, we considered the first two: Biblical & Balanced (Part 1: Biblical & Balanced). Now, the third: A Missionary Bent….Here is Shanes’s post: A Missionary Bent When I was a church planter, I necessarily had a “church […]
Being A Welcoming Church: Part 1 (Shane Lems)
Last week, we introduced and previewed a new series by OPC Pastor Shane Lems (Covenant Presbyterian in Hammond, WI). (More about Shane and last week’s post). Now, we will start to dig into the full articles. Below is the portion on being biblical and balanced as a welcoming church. Next week, the third prong: a […]
Shane Lems: Being A Welcoming Church – Introduction
We begin 2019 with a new series about being a welcoming church written by OPC Pastor Shane Lems. Shane is the pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Hammond, Wisconsin. He and his wife, Lisa, have 4 kids. Prior to ministry, Shane was in the US Army Reserves for 6 years and worked in the auto […]