If your community is anything like mine, you have seen some new people moving into your town, and new construction projects have been breaking ground. As a Lakeland citizen, I had been paying attention to the changes, especially downtown, since 2020, but it wasn’t until January 2022 that I woke up to the potential of what these changes could mean for our parish. The result became a project that has changed the way we do ministry at All Saints’, Lakeland, and has potential to do the same across the Diocese of Central Florida.

Ethnographic Observations

In January I was taking a course through Trinity School for Ministry, Ambridge, Pennsylvania, which required an ethnography of the neighborhood surrounding the parish where I serve. I was instructed to walk the block observing the church with fresh eyes as if seeing it for the first time. Next, I was to look outward and describe the buildings, people and places that can be seen from the church. I was to interview two people, one from the neighborhood and one from the church.

As I opened myself to what the Holy Spirit wanted me to observe, I saw new opportunities to reach out to our neighbors because new neighbors were coming to our doorstep. I also more clearly defined the neighborhood of the church to provide focus for ministry engagement.

Prayer walk ministry team with The Rev. Kathy Hulin (C) at Lake Mirror | Photo Credit: All Saints’, Lakeland

Prayer Walks

That initial step led to the creation of a ministry project centered on hospitality. Based on Judeo-Christian history as well as my personal definition, hospitality, rather than being a series of niceties for those who come to the church, is a means of embodying God’s presence that should extend into the community to engage strangers.

In practicing this kind of hospitality, I invited members of the church to join me on prayer walks around the neighborhood. Each of these met for 45 minutes with the goal of walking slowly one time around the lake feature there. All participants prayed silently while walking and asked God to show them what to notice and how to engage.

If the Holy Spirit revealed a personal encounter to undertake, whether casual conversation or prayer ministry, individuals or couples followed in obedience. The group debriefed at the end of the walk, learning from one another.

Discernment and Learning

Concurrently, I led a series of adult classes to talk about living out a hospitality spirituality in the neighborhood and all of life. As we focused on making room for listening for God to lead us, we became sensitized to our neighbors – not only in the class but out in the church’s community – so we could listen to them as well.

Through hospitality, we were training ourselves to think more acutely about loving God and loving neighbor and to find ways to put it into practice outside our church walls. The class conversations organically revealed a process of corporate discernment about the opportunities God helped us to see.

A focus group of new members who walk to church as well as interviews with long-standing members, with the city mayor and Lakeland business leaders involved with downtown development also contributed to the learning and discernment process.

Church members giving tours | Photo Credit: All Saints’, Lakeland

Neighborhood Engagement

As I listened to recurring themes from the interviews, class conversations and prayer walks, I was able to pull together and invite our parish to participate in an outreach project in October 2022. The Lake Mirror Car Classic was taking place all around our church property and in our neighborhood, which presented us with three different areas and opportunities for engagement with strangers.

Our church parking lot was filled with vintage cars hosted by church members and friends, plus we partnered with two kitchen start-up companies from a neighborhood business, inviting them to sell items on our lot. This gave them exposure to us and to the community, and their presence attracted more people to visit our property. We also pulled together a church tent as a meeting place for sharing with the community. Finally, we held an open house, giving tours of our narthex and nave with docents and materials about our church’s architecture, windows and traditions; premium giveaways; and music from our parish organist.

The process of exploring outreach through the lens of a hospitality spirituality has just begun. God presents countless opportunities to those who are asking, seeking and knocking. I encourage churches throughout the diocese to consider new possibilities for the new year.