Radical Hospitality: A Review of the Book by Father Daniel Homan and Lonni Collins Pratt
by the Rev. Michelle Thomas-Bush, Associate Pastor for Youth and Young Adults at the Riverview Presbyterian Church (Jacksonville, Florida)

Deep inside of all of us is a desire to belong and to be welcomed.  In a culture that is increasingly individual and self-focused, we yearn for community.  This same culture incites us not just to express opinions but to pit ourselves against each other, to polarize our communities, and fuel our fears.  People are searching for a meaningful place to belong and to wrestle with the issues of our lives.  The church struggles to provide this safe place of rest and restoration.  A call to ministry to God’s searching people is a call to the ministry of hospitality.

It is at camp and conferences centers across our country that we find this ministry of hospitality being lived out in real and relevant ways.  However, at times we cannot articulate why we do what we do- we just know this is what must be done.  Radical Hospitality offers us the theological language for our ministry and at the same time challenges us to push deeper into the ministry of loving our neighbor.

We believe that transforming love of hospitality begins inside.  It may involve a major change of attitude and lifestyle.  There is a place inside of each of us that we must open and nurture before we can open the door to others.  Our fast-paced lifestyle and our society’s movement inward means that we will eventually lock our heart away from others and grow distant and cold inside.

This is a place where I found myself in ministry and in life.  I found that the fast pace allows me the opportunity to withdraw personally, build a wall between myself and others, and become task-oriented.  I find myself not having time to be welcoming, to listen, or to be compassionate.  In reading about the Benedictines way of loving, I was invited by these amazing writers to expand my heart to make room for strangers, for those who make me tired, for those who live on the edge, and to offer the gift of hospitality which I believe is God’s transforming love.

As I look through my dog-eared and highlighted copy of Radical Hospitality, I struggle to share with you the one lesson I learned or the one quote that spoke to me.  The entire book is a valuable resource for ministry.  It is easy to read, yet full of wise reflections.  It offers the answers for how to love our neighbor, for how to care when we are tired, and how to create healthy boundaries.  It is a book that invites you into an internal conversation about your faith and life, it is my hope that you will accept the invitation.

Radical Hospitality can be purchased for $12.71.  The Companion Guide to Radical Hospitality by Robert B. Gibson ($4.95) is a wonderful tool for a discussion group, bible study, or summer staff training.