Wide Open, Week 13: Hospitality
About this episode
Yvonne Gentile discusses the importance of hospitality in churches and how to create a welcoming environment for newcomers.
Listen to the July 12, 2026 Sunday worship service from Zionsville United Methodist Church in Zionsville, IN. Imagine showing up to a dinner party where the parking spots closest to the door are all taken by the hosts, nobody greets you at the entrance, the best seats are already claimed, and when the food comes out nobody explains what anything is. You'd feel invisible. You'd slip out the moment dinner ended and nobody would notice you were gone. This message from Yvonne Gentile — Director of Guest Experiences at Church of the Resurrection, the largest United Methodist church in the country — makes the case that this exact scenario plays out in churches every single Sunday. Not because anyone means harm, but because friendly and radically hospitable are not the same thing. Drawing from Scripture and hard-won experience, this is a warm but honest conversation about the difference between inwardly focused and outwardly focused churches, what it actually feels like to walk through a church door for the first time, and the simple, concrete things any congregation can do differently starting next Sunday. https://www.zumc.org/sermons
More episodes of Zionsville United Methodist Church
- Wide Open, Week 14: From Grace to Mission
- Wide Open, Week 12: Going Through It
- Wide Open, Week 11: Grand Lessons
- Wide Open, Week 10: The Prodigal Son
- Wide Open, Week 9: Love Your Enemies
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