Welcoming newcomers and communicating clearly our various programs are key activities to ensure a vibrant and sustainable community of faith on Salt Spring.  Our welcome committee is a small group of parishioners keen to address questions of how we reach out into the community to encourage people to join us in worship, in community, and/or in community service.

We have been working on strategies and appropriate actions that we can implement that go well beyond traditional greeting of people who make their way to church ensuring the experience of someone who comes through the church doors is a positive and welcoming is a critical piece. The committee is also addressing how we reach out into the community to:

  • Make ourselves known through communication within the parish and the community through effective use of print, electronic, and social media.
  • Ensure that our welcome is authentic and reflected in more than our words but also in our actions and in our presence.
  • Make it clear that we are inclusive of age, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, and religious background or lack of it.
  • While we welcome people to join us for worship, we also welcome people who are interested in joining our outreach efforts in the community without committing to joining us for worship.

Strategies and actions are also required to ensure that a sense of being welcomed is not simply experienced in the narthex upon arrival but is sustained throughout all experiences within the church all week long.

If you would like to join with others in welcoming parishioners and new-comers, please contact Debbi Toole or the Parish Office.