Creating Space

Fundamental to church is that it is there for people. The church ought always to be open, available. I don't mean we should leave our buildings unlocked, though sometimes some are too much locked up. But the church is the people and it is the people who should be open and available. I was at a consultation recently when the question was posed: how can we move churches towards being more hospitable, better able to provide that space in which people can grow and flourish? I do believe that one of the church's key task is to create space for people to encounter - and that can happen in a massive range of ways. The question arises as to what we are doing with the space that is our church - and I do mainly, though not only, mean the building this time. Is our space there for others? And what are the chances of them encountering God there, in the way that they need to do so?