Thank you for this opportuntiy to think outside the box and plan for the future.
I would like to see “Hospitality to All” be a theme within the churches. At our church, St. Thomas Stittsville, we have several groups and small buisnesses renting our facilities during the week. As the saying goes – hospitality begins at home, I would like to send a welcoming message to the 300 plus families who enter our doors during the week. These people come once or twice a week bringing their children to either the preschool or the after school learning center which teaches children 3 to 17 years. There is also an AA group that meets once a week. My idea would be for the dioceses to prepare a list of organizations that could come to speak or teach or display information on various subjects targeting the interests of the people who are using our facility as well as the general public. The church could then host one such meeting per month targeting the groups that meet in their church. An invitation personally delivered to each family would show that we care about their needs too. Especially in the outskirts of Ottawa it is very difficult to find or attend such information nights as “Teens and drugs”. First Words”, “Aging parents”, ” Families in Crisis” etc.
I hope this is an idea whose time has come. Thank you again
Blessings
