The Revd Najla Kassab, President of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, spoke at the United Reformed Church (URC) Ministers’ Gathering on Tuesday and Wednesday.
She was due to speak on Thursday as well, but has been presented with the opportunity to visit Ukraine and spend time with the Reformed Churches there – so the URC is very happy to release her!
Mrs Kassab spoke on the theme of hospitality as the calling of the Church. In the hotel industry, she said, there is a difference between service and hospitality. Service is about doing what we trained to do; hospitality is concerned with how others feel. “Hospitality,” she said, “is about them not us. It is not merely service but rather a way to make people happy, respected, and dignified. It is stepping in their shoes and trying to lessen their struggle and pain.”
Looking at the stories of the good Samaritan and of Mary and Martha, she said that the former is an example of going beyond what is expected to provide hospitality; the latter shows that the spirit in which we offer hospitality is more important than our actions. “The spirit in which we offer hospitality affects the impact of hospitality. Hospitality is not an act of pity but is rooted in our faith.”
Sharing stories from the work of the Presbyterian Church in Lebanon, visiting prisons and providing schools for Syrian refugees, Mrs Kassab said some members feared this work would trouble the Church and felt it was not their responsibility. Others looked at them as children of God who deserve to be protected from the streets, and enjoy dignified life and learn to read and write.
“This ministry shaped who we are as the Church today. We discovered that unless we reflect hospitality in our daily life, then we have missed the real meaning of the Gospel and the love of God to all people.” The Church, she added, is called to take hospitality outside its walls.
“As leaders we are called to create new spaces of hospitality and new ways of hospitality,” said Mrs Kassab. She shared stories of changing attitudes to the ministry of women in Syria. “God surprises us with new attitudes,” she said. “God surprises us in new places.”
She continued, “If we want to be surprised as a Church, we need to offer hospitality; If we want to be revived as a Church, we need to offer hospitality. The table is the Lord’s table, not ours.”