One important part of being the church in your community is to welcome new people to the neighborhood. In this post, Sam Riviera reminds us of the importance of welcoming new people, and provides some suggestions for how you can welcome new people to your area.
Have you ever been the new person or family on your block, at church or at work? Did anyone welcome you?
When we moved into our current home several years ago, there were two pastors, one seminary dean, one Christian college professor and one Buddhist who all lived within half a block of us. Which one welcomed us? Of course it was the Buddhist! We eventually had to introduce ourselves to the others.
That experience helped us decide that as followers of Jesus we should be the first ones to welcome new people, whether it be to our neighborhood, our church, our workplace or even social groups to which we belong. But how? How could we welcome people in a non-threatening way that almost everyone would accept?
Welcome New People by Giving them Cookies
One approach we discovered that has never been rejected the many hundreds of times we have used it is a freshly baked, slightly warm plate of cookies. I use this recipe (try them today!):
List of Ingredients
- One 18.25 ounce box Betty Crocker Yellow (or Butter Recipe Yellow) Super Moist Cake Mix (Absolutely no substitutions – no other brands work the same – You can pick these up on sale for about $1 a box)
- One stick butter (Again, absolutely no substitutions. Do not use margarine.)
- 2 large eggs
- One cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- One cup chopped nuts (I usually use walnuts)
- 22 chopped small Heath bars (this is about half a bag) or 11 chopped snack size Heath bars (this is also about half a bag) – This makes about one cup chopped bars
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Chop the nuts and Heath bars. Preheat the oven to 375. Lightly spray two 12 x 17 heavy duty aluminum baking sheets with cooking spray.
Melt butter. Empty box of cake mix into a large mixing bowl. Add vanilla to melted butter and stir. Add butter and eggs to cake mix and stir until completely mixed. Immediately add chocolate chips, nuts and Heath bars. Stir until completely mixed.Evenly divide to make twelve cookies per baking sheet. (If you don’t eat half the dough!) Drop by spoonfulls onto the baking sheets and flatten slightly with your hand.
Place cookies on two oven racks near middle of the oven. Bake 8 minutes, then turn pans. Bake five to seven minutes more, until golden brown. Time varies according to your oven.
After you remove the cookies from the oven, cool one to two minutes max on the baking sheet and then loosen with a spatula, or they will stick. Cool the pan a few minutes longer on a wire rack, then remove cookies and place on wax paper to cool.
We buy heavy duty plastic dinner plates (the type with no dividers), and place eight to twelve large, fresh cookies on the plate, and then cover it with clear plastic wrap.
My wife and I both go to the new people’s house and knock on their door. When the people answer the door, we say “Hello, we’re the Riviera’s. We want to welcome you to the neighborhood, so we brought you a plate of warm chocolate chip cookies.”
If the people invite us in, we reply, “We know you weren’t expecting us and we weren’t planning to come in.” (Especially if they’re just moving in, their house may be messy, which may embarrass them.) If they insist, we reply, “OK, but we won’t stay long.”
How Can We Help?
When we deliver cookies to a new neighbor we ask if they are new to San Diego. If they are we offer to help if they need to find a new doctor, plumber, or whatever.
We also offer to help them meet their new neighbors, and give them our phone number so they can call us if they have questions about San Diego or the neighborhood.
It’s Never Too Late
Even if your neighbors didn’t just move in, it’s never too late to take a plate of warm cookies to neighbors you don’t know and introduce yourself.
No One Welcomed Us!
Maybe when you moved to a new area, no one welcomed you to the neighborhood. This happens all the time.
You move into a new neighborhood and the neighbors don’t seem to notice.
If this happens, once you’ve unpacked (assuming that doesn’t take years), a warm plate of cookies is a good way to introduce yourselves to your neighbors, even if you’re the new people on the block. Also, asking them about recommended doctors, plummers, electricians, or community events is a good way to get them talking about the neighborhood and the town.
Be the Church in Your Community
Want to be the church in your community but don't know? Here are some posts which not only explain what it means to be the church in your community, but also gives concrete, practical examples of what it looks like and how to be the church whatever you do and wherever you go.
Remember, you ARE the church, and wherever you go, Jesus goes with you!
- How to Be the Church in Your Community
- The Tribe and the Church
- Church Tribes vs. the Jesus Tribe
- How to Preach the Gospel to your Neighbors
- Being the Church is Loving the Person in Front of You
- 4 Practical Suggestions for Being the Church in your Community
- Love Like Jesus by Listening to People
- Welcome New People to the Community
- Finding Jesus in Denver
- Loving Others at Walmart
Hi Jeremy,
I’m pretty new to reading your blog and am very impressed. I would love to see you go get a college degree (in something other than theology) so that you can get a high(er) paying job. I don’t know what you are doing now, but from prior posts about your financial journey, I can see that you have had a rough road financially after you left the seminary.
You write very well and demonstrate strong critical thinking skills. I think you could do very well in many fields and find financial and career success … I would put forth the idea that you can “minister” to other people in a regular workplace and make a difference in their lives. I’ve worked for a large corporation for many years and have been surprised by the meaning I have found and the lives I’ve been able to touch in a fairly mundane field.
I made your cookies tonight – great “easy” cookies when you don’t want the hassle to do fully homemade. I would cut the butter to 3/4 of a cup next time.
Thanks for everything you do.
Sharon
Sharon, neighbors aren’t just those who live next door. They include the people with whom we come in contact, including co-workers.
The cookies call for one stick of butter, which is 1/2 cup. I have made over forty variations on the basic recipe (the BC cake mix, eggs, butter and vanilla) and have made and given away at least 500 dozen. People love them. They’re also a great way to say thank you to someone who has done something for you. You can bet that almost no one else gives people warm homemade cookies. At least that’s what we’re regularly told. (I don’t work for Betty Crocker or anyone that sells cake mix.
I meant to say that next time I would try to cut the butter to 3/4 of a stick (not 3/4 cup). I did bake them again with slightly reduced butter and mint pieces instead of toffee to take to a potluck. People liked them a lot, but my family and I preferred Jeremy’s original recipe w/ toffee and chocolate chips. This will be my go-to recipe now for potlucks and cookie exchanges (with slightly reduced butter). Thanks for the recipe!
Of all the variations, the two favorites are either the recipe above, or this one: In addition to the basic batter, add chopped Heath bars, chocolate chips, real white chocolate chips, chopped macadamia nuts and a few chopped dried tart cherries.
Once upon a time when we attended an institutional church, we made “cookie calls” on visitors. We gave them these cookies and told them if they liked them and wanted the recipe, to see me at church. Some people visited the church just to get the recipe. Now I bake them for friends, neighbors and others.