JAN 2 UPDATE: We surpassed our goal! Thank you so much to all who gave so generously to help us create a warm welcome for visitors to our church!!
It’s become a tradition at Woodland Hills to think about the Christmas season a little differently. Each year in the weeks leading up to Christmas, we encourage each other to spend a little less on gifts. Most of us have plenty of stuff in our lives already! Instead, we’ve asked for your help with projects to increase our church’s Kingdom impact.
Help create a warm welcome
This year we hope to raise money for improvements to our building that will help make people feel valued and welcomed. Visitors from our neighborhood come through our doors almost every day, either for a Woodland Hills event or to see one of our on-site partner organizations. We want to be as hospitable as we can to our guests – communicating through our facility that everyone has dignity.
Who are our guests?
Visitors come to our church services each weekend, of course. But for several years, we also held Making Space fundraisers to literally make space in our building to host partner organizations who serve our neighborhood. At this point a lot of space has been made:
Current on-site partners:
- Housing Assistance (Coordinated Access to Housing & Shelter)
- Food Shelf (Merrick Community Services)
- Youth Development & Job Skills Program (The Lift)
- Day Care (Close to My Heart)
- Adults with Disabilities (The Tap)
- After School Mentoring (ANEW BAM)
We host hundreds of guests from these organizations each week!
Welcoming guests
For all of us, subtle cues in the environment around us communicate important values and messages. Am I welcome here? Have they prepared for my arrival? Am I treated the same as others? Do they care that I’m here? We want to make sure that any guests in our church are confident that we value them. By creating a warm welcome, we can begin to send the all-important message that we love and accept all people who walk through our doors.
Okay, I’m in – how can I help?
