Well Done!

[Guest Kenna Dixon]

I love this message of inclusion written by someone at Our Lady Of Lourdes Catholic Church in Daytona Beach for their Meetup Group page:

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As a Catholic parish community committed to justice, our mission is to actively reach out and welcome ALL into the full expression of Christ’s all-inclusive love, without regard to a single thing - not your color, sex, orientation, relationship status, religion, culture, size, age, etc. Our goal is not only to offer a place to worship as active members of a faith community where ALL are welcome to share their spirituality, experiences, strengths, and hopes with one another—but also to actively promote faith opportunities for ALL those who have lost connection to a church community by providing a safe place for social activities, spiritual and educational events, and outreach to the larger community.

For example...here's who is WELCOME at Our Lady of Lourdes!

We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, gay, filthy rich, earth poor, or y no habla Ingles. We welcome those who are crying newborns, skinny as a rail, and those of us who could afford to lose a few pounds. We welcome you if you can sing like Andrea Bocelli, or like our pastor who can't carry a note in a bucket. You're welcome here if you're "just browsing," just woke up, or just got out of jail. We don't care if you’re overdressed, underdressed, cross-dressed, more Catholic than the Pope, or haven't been to church since little Joey’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 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 or are still addicted. We welcome you if you're having problems, or if you're down in the dumps, and even if you don't like "organized religion" (because we've been there, too). If you blew all your offering money at the dog track, you're still welcome here. We offer a special welcome to those who think the earth is flat, work too hard, don’t work, can't spell, or came because grandma is in town and wanted to go to church. We welcome those who are inked, pierced, or both. We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now, had religion shoved down your throat as a kid, or got lost in traffic (or on the internet) and wound up here by mistake. We welcome tourists, seekers, doubters, and bleeding hearts. We welcome the flexible, inflexible, tolerant, intolerant, those who laughed, those who gasped at this welcome...and we especially welcome YOU!

So please join us for any (ALL!) events at Our Lady of Lourdes! Where ALL are welcome....and ALL means ALL!

Questions about our community? Please call (redacted) or email (redacted). Hope to see you soon!

Oh and BTW....you're also welcome to please check us out at church ANY weekend....Saturdays @ 4PM or Sundays @ 8AM, 9:30AM or 11AM! (The 11AM is our Contemporary Praise & Worship Mass...highly recommended for first-timers or if you've been away for awhile....and did we mention you need not be Catholic to join us?!! lol) Then hang out with us in our Latte & Soul Cafe after Mass where we build community and fuel relationships over a latte or hot tea (or wine on Saturdays)....plus incredible treats/snacks! Come check us out!

[gennee]

Thank you for sharing this, Kenna. More churches like yours are needed.