[edit: Pat, 9:43pm Sat night; trying to communicate better]
I’ve noticed an odd sensation when we have guests who are “just passing through”. Specifically the visitors that we have who are passing through town or just visit from somewhere else, whom we know that we won’t see again.
Let me elaborate a bit. I love seeing guests drop in. Family members, folks who are driving through and saw our sign. But it feels strange to me, though, because we downplay the Experience of a Sunday worship time and up-play (is that a word?) the missional nature of the church. Every week, I get on my high horse and talk about the purpose of our gathering time being both to worship God here and now, and to be refreshed and equipped for the ministry in the week ahead. As such, attracting people who aren’t part of, nor looking to connect with, our own community and mission feels odd.
I wonder what it feels like for the black urban church to have white suburbanites stop by just to see how they worship. Or for people to stop in to Church of the Savior because they’re well known. Or the Anaheim Vineyard when John Wimber was still alive, or for people to go to the church where Martin Luther King used to preach.
In our environment, it’s weird to think of a church gathering as something like a tourist destination. A new restaurant to try when traveling.
Now, I always hope and pray that EVERYONE experiences a connection with God as we gather together – no less so for our visitors. And certainly people who Just Pass Through are usually committed disciples who want to worship God with other parts of the body.
But there’s a misfit that I sense, though, even as we welcome Just Passing Through visitors. I guess it’s the misfit of having people gather with us for a different purpose than that of being missionaries from our own community, which is our purpose for existing.
Does any of this make sense, or am I just ranting oddly again?
pat loughery 
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