With anniversaries coming (September 11; the 2004 tsunami) and going (Hurricane Katrina),  church leaders may be looking at them in terms of repentance and wondering about their long-term impact. One can't help noticing that the increase in church attendance following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks decreased within weeks. 

According to Coral Ridge Ministries, church attendance spiked to 47 percent of all Americans the week after the terrorist attacks, the highest percentage recorded since 1997. But by December, 2001, it faded to pre-attack levels.

The rise in church volunteers down in the Gulf Coast showed a different sort of Christian commitment that is continuing with rebuilding. That continues in areas devastated by the tsunami, too.

Still, the bottom-line question remains: What is the effect of a natural disaster or violent tragedy in turning people to God?

The Old Testament is full of prophesies of coming destruction, both natural and human. The  disasters always end with people fearing the Lord. However, do Americans respond the same way when disaster hits?

According to a recent news release from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), presiding Bishop Rev. Mark S. Hanson said that 9/11 changed the "context" of the church in the United States. In a comment made as part of his message to the church in anticipation of the upcoming fifth anniversary of the attacks, Hanson said they had "shattered thousands of lives and galvanized millions more around the country and across the globe."

He quoted the Rev. Stephen P. Bouman, bishop of the ELCA's Metropolitan New York Synod, who wrote: "For a brief time our houses of worship were the most important places in the community, and the Bible was a living document of drama encompassing our own."

I remember that time, too. My question concerns today. What about now? I tend to think people would come to church more out of love than fear—perhaps to embrace the other side of the same God. So feeling loved when they get to church is critical.

Rick Warren wrote a little about what it takes for churches to really be welcoming, disaster or no disaster.

"Our members' love is focused toward newcomers, not just toward each other. I know of many churches where the members love each other; and they have great fellowship, but the churches are still dying because all the love is focused inwardly," Warren wrote in The Purpose Driven Church.

I don't think this can be over-emphasized in a congregation. If you are really interested in welcoming new people, they simply cannot be ignored. A poignant, though earthy, illustration of this hit me this morning as I was working out. I belong to a gym owned by a national chain.  So although I am out of town, I went to the same gym in the city I'm visiting. I don't know what I expected, but the surprise came in the warm reception I received. Not only did the manager greet me warmly, so did others who stopped to say "hello" and took an interest in a newcomer. 

The other surprise was that the people were actually friendlier than the folks at my hometown gym. At home, people generally just talk to their friends and ignore anyone on the outside of their immediate circle.

There's a great lesson in there for the church. That new face may appear in the sanctuary on Sunday because of terrorism, a natural disaster or a personal crisis. Whatever the case,  church members should emanate a love that is obvious at the worship service and that continues … at the gym, the coffee shop, and the commute to and from work. (I gotta work on that last one.)

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