Welcome Statement

You Are Welcome Here! 

 

Here at St. Barnabas, we extend a special welcome to those who are single, those who are married, those who are widowed, and those who are divorced. We welcome you if you're comfortably rich, if you are poor, if you're LGBTQIA+, or if you're a person of color, o no habla ingles. You are welcome here. 

 

We welcome you if your ancestors were from Ireland, Germany, Poland, Georgia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malaysia, Mexico or Japan. If your roots are from anywhere, even from Beverly or the North Side, or the North Pole, you are welcome here. 

 

We extend a special welcome to those who are crying newborns, to those who are skinny as a rail and to those who could stand to lose a few pounds. 

 

We welcome you if you can sing like Andrea Bocelli or if you can't carry a tune in a bucket. 

 

You are welcome here if you're "just browsing," just woke up, or just got out of jail. We welcome you if you are more Catholic than the Pope, or haven't been in a church since little Sean's baptism. 

 

We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not grown up yet, and to teenagers who are growing up way too fast. We welcome soccer moms, NASCAR dads, starving artists, tree huggers, latte sippers, vegetarians, and junk food eaters. 

 

We welcome those who are in recovery and those who are still addicted. We welcome you if you're having problems, if you're struggling with depression, and even if you don't like "religion." 

 

If you blew all your offering money at the casino, you are welcome here. We offer a special welcome to those who think the world was flat, to those who work too hard, to those who don't work, can't work, can't spell or are here because Grandma is in town and wanted everyone to go to church. 

 

We welcome you if you are retired or just plain tired. 

 

We welcome those who are inked and those who are pierced or both. If you are happy and put together and everything is going your way, of course you are welcome here. But if you have some dirt under your fingernails, or in your eyes, or in your past, you are welcome here too. 

 

We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now. And to those who got lost in traffic and wound up here by mistake. 

 

We welcome those who wear uniforms, badges, boots, scrubs, scars, or scapulars. We welcome those who are the first to rush in when there's trouble, while everyone else is rushing to get out. 

 

We welcome those who wave flags and those who wave hi. We welcome tourists, seekers, doubters, bleeding hearts...and we welcome you! This is your home. This is our home, even though you may not have been home in a while! Welcome to St. Barnabas!