Welcoming the Other at Willowdale CRC

Abstract

This research project is an ethnographic study of the congregational culture and embodied hospitality of Willowdale Christian Reformed Church (WCRC). WCRC is a fifty-year old congregation in North York, Toronto that has welcomed about one hundred and twenty newcomers from Iran. The research used James Spradley’s ethnographic methodology. Through participant observation and interviews with four English speaking and five Farsi speaking informants, this research project seeks to understand the experience of a changing congregation. The theological reflection focuses on embodied practices of hospitality including sacramental hospitality and growing mutuality. My thesis is that there is an identifiable set of practices, rituals, or in other words a habitus, around welcoming and being welcomed. The results of the study include the importance of persons of peace among both Farsi-speaking Iranians and English speakers who bridged cultural differences. Both Farsi and English speakers made a commitment to be one congregation, as opposed to an us-versus-them church of inherent division. The study explored how these two communities were a gift to each other. For the Farsi-speaking Iranians, WCRC provided safety and security, refugee hearing support, older Christian role models, family, and a place to learn English and Canadian culture. For the English speakers, the Farsi-speaking Iranians brought youth, church renewal, energy, and inspiration. Eucharistic hospitality was experienced in weekly Lord’s Supper participation that transcended language and culture. The many baptisms of the Farsi-speaking Iranians were important to their experience of welcome and inclusion. The ordination of Farsi speaking elders and deacons helped the Farsi speaking guests to feel like they were becoming hosts.