Oden, Amy G. God’s Welcome: Hospitality for a Gospel-Hungry World. Pilgrim Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780829817355.
Meet the Author
Amy G. Oden is Dean and Professor of History of Christianity at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. She is the author of two books on hospitality: And You Welcomed Me: A Sourcebook on Hospitality in Early Christianity (2001) and God’s Welcome: Hospitality for a Gospel-Hungry World (2008). Additionally, she is the editor of In Her Words: Women’s Writings in the History of Christian Thought (1994).
Book Basics
God’s Welcome is a thought provoking volume that invites readers to rethink hospitality. Blending biblical narratives with theological insight, Oden helps readers construct or reconstruct an expansive understanding of Christian hospitality. In the author’s own words, she writes this book as her response to the inconsistencies between “the distressing portrayal of Christianity as unwelcoming in the current culture” and “the rich lessons we have from ancient Christians about hospitality” (p.9). The Gospel hospitality about which she writes is the genuine hospitality to which Christians are called and which is marked by readiness, risk, repentance, and recognition. Hospitality is more than a church program or ministry; it is a way of life.
So What?
While this book is an interesting read, it seems best suited for group study. Together, a group may study the book in full or work through some or all of the fourteen meditations in the third chapter: “Practicing Gospel Hospitality” (each meditation offers both questions for discussions and one or more experiential exercises). At the close of the book, Oden provides group study exercises for each chapter. Additionally, the emphasis of the book is not merely intellectual but experiential. Readers are encouraged to experience and share God’s welcome. Consider this resource for a church hospitality team, evangelism committee, or small group study.
How would you define Christian hospitality?
Is hospitality one of many ministries within your local church or is it a part of the life of faith to which all are called? If it is the latter, how does your congregation equip people for this ministry?
According to Oden, “A spirituality of hospitality is the particular practice of paying attention to God’s welcome in our lives and paying attention to the welcome we extend to others” (p. 53) How well are you doing when it comes to paying attention to God’s welcome in your life? to extending that welcome to others?