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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…
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Women shepherd
Several months ago, some colleagues and I founded The Visual Museum of Women in Christianity. With the help of a pool of volunteers, we’re capturing images from around the world that document women in the visual record of the church. Often what’s written tells only decisions about problems and debates—certainly not the whole story. Imagine if someone read only your church’s notes from town-hall or business meetings rather than reading the bulletins or seeing website photos or hearing oral histories. If the former were the only records you had, you might never imagine all the hospital visits, unhoused neighbors served, funeral meals prepared, recovery ministries led, marriage counseling and classes…