Who We Are: Hospitality

The value that I (Bryce) would like to talk about is Hospitality. Of our four community values (growth, collaboration, hospitality, and community relevance), I believe this one is the most tangible, and so I am excited to be able to give you a fairly concrete picture of what we do here to practice hospitality.

Meeting Needs

Often this is as simple as opening our door – to the fridge. Because people need food. I think it is safe to say that we all love food here, and we really like to give it to other people too. So chances are if you’ve shown up here, whether on a Tuesday night or any other time, you’ve been offered food. For example, a couple weekends ago when Noah Gunderson and Garage Voice came to town for some shows, they stayed a night at our house. In the morning they woke up to a full breakfast spread including a huge fruit salad, put together by Candice. There was food everywhere. We love this.

Another basic human need is a place to sleep. We’ve got a library, a living room, and like a jillion couches. I love that when I get up to go to work in the early morning, I can peek into the living room and every once in a while find someone sleeping on a couch. (Don’t worry, I’m not that creepy Eddie guy from Friends) The sweet thing about that is that sleeping on the couch often goes hand-in-hand with a free breakfast.

Safety

The Canby house is a safe place. Here you are welcome, and encouraged to bring your own opinions. I can’t promise we’ll agree with you, but we’ll listen to you and engage with you. I believe and hope that our discussions on Tuesday nights, as well as any other conversations occurring here are safe for you.

I have found the Canby house to be a place that practices health in all aspects of life. We try to eat healthy food. We try to communicate in healthy ways. We try to avoid harmful addictions (Settlers is not harmful, people). And this is important, because we cannot be safe if we aren’t healthy.

Refuge and Rest

While meeting needs and having a sense of safety are important, I firmly believe that following the Christ requires us to give up our securities, and make sacrifices. If we are to minister to other people, we have to make ourselves vulnerable. But there comes a time (or, many many times) in our individual lives when we need to step back, or maybe even run away. The Canby house is a good place run away to.

Clearly, Tuesday nights won’t always be very restful for those of us who tend to avoid crowds. If that is you, I would encourage you to come over on another day. For example, Dominique stopped by the other day after a walk in the park, and Lori Marchuk often stops by to do some homework. Oh, and if you like The Office or 30 Rock, you’ll usually find someone here on Thursday nights. Give it a try.

Preparation for the Journey

My choir teacher in college loved to talk about how we are all on “the Journey”. That is, we are making our ways through life on our own paths. In light of that, no matter where we are, we ought to prepare for where we will be next. Although this isn’t something we are actively doing right now, it is my hope that we can explore how to not only receive people with hospitality, but to send them back out prepared. Sometimes this is as simple as giving someone a good meal and a night of sleep. If you’ve got ideas, I’d love to hear them.

One lesson that I have been taught over and over again this winter is that as humans were are all terribly broken. The implication I’m going for here is that I will not always be a very hospitable person. But as one who considers himself redeemed, I strive with hope to meet a higher standard. In light of that, please come over and give us a chance to minister to you.