All Are Welcome: A Reflection on Inclusion
Before a recent church council meeting got underway, there was a moment to pause and reflect on one of the values that defines the congregation: “All Are Welcome.” The scripture for the evening came from Mark 10:13–16, where people were bringing children to Jesus and the disciples turned them away — only for Jesus to respond with indignation, pulling the children close and blessing them. “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
What makes that passage so quietly powerful is what it reveals about who gets welcomed, and by whom. The people doing the excluding weren’t strangers or enemies — they were the disciples, the inner circle. And yet Jesus saw past that and made room anyway. The devotion carried that same thread into the room: a council made up of people from different generations, some with decades of experience, others bringing fresh perspectives, each with different gifts, but each valued.
The reflection put it simply and well: “Our differences are not obstacles. They are gifts that help us better serve Christ, our congregation, and the wider community around us.” That is a sentence worth sitting with — not just inside a church, but anywhere people gather to make decisions together. Humility, compassion, and a willingness to truly hear one another are not soft ideals. They are the work.