• Engage

    How Not to Shepherd Visitors

    Today I’m happy to welcome Aussie guest blogger Anna Stoyanoff. You can read her bio below. Have you ever felt like the only person in the room troubled by what someone is saying? Recently I had such an experience, looking around at the nods and thoughtful note-taking of others and thinking, Aren’t they hearing how disturbing this is? As I sat through training for ministry workers about what to do when visitors attend church, the speakers used Christian language: “We want to love them well.” They spoke a lot about being shepherds and caring for sheep. If only they’d described the kind of shepherd Jesus was…. Instead, they went on…