Today a young adult man who lives near the church came to church without shoes. He walked to church barefoot, and went into the sanctuary barefoot (also wearing shorts and a button shirt with the sleeves cut off). This young man first came back in March or thereabouts, and he has returned maybe eight times. He's had some trouble with the law, and I'm sure he has a very difficult life. I want him to feel accepted at Anchor. And I think he does.
He hadn't been there in a few weeks, and I was concerned. When we musicians finished and I walked out the back, I made a point of tapping him on the shoulder and saying, "Great to see you today." He looked over his shoulder and acknowledged me.
The thing that's great is, nobody seemed bothered that he came to church barefoot. I didn't hear anyone even mention it. We had a party at our house tonight, with about 20 people, and it never came up.
We pride ourselves on not making an issue of dress. But this was a new one, and I thought at least someone would say something about it. But nobody did. It's like we just collectively realized, "Okay, haven't seen this one before. But it falls under the same heading as wearing shorts and T-shirts. It's not something to make a fuss over."
And that absolutely delights me. Nobody said a thing about his attire, negative or positive. It just wasn't an issue.
In every church I've attended in my life, it would have been an issue. People would have at least whispered about it (unapprovingly). But it wasn't an issue at Anchor today. And that thrills me. It's fun being part of an atypical church.
Career-wise, I've been hanging around and writing about and cheering on churches and pastors for the past 25 years as my denomination's Communications Director.
I saw him walk in today as well while we were singing, and that is the first thing I noticed. But as you said, it didn't seem to bother me either other than I had that thought run thru my head, "this is a new one". I will agree that Anchor is unique and an atypical church and I was awed by how comfortable he must have felt among us to be able to come bare footed. Wouldn't it be nice if we all could feel that comfortable around Christians.. I'm glad that people can be themselves at Anchor, I only hope that I can be as comfortable about sharing Christ with them as they continue to come.