Michael Fiorentino

When I attended my very first service here at First Congregational Church, Gay Williams took it upon herself to make me feel welcome and introduced me to a number of people including the late great Ken Logan who quickly became one of my dearest friends. Over a decade later I am still with this wonderful Church and thank God for this. With visitors often tricking in and out of churches, Gay knew nothing about me and had no idea what would become of her hospitality – she was simply being herself.          

The second half of verse two that refers to “entertaining angels without knowing it” reminds me of something that happened at another church. One Sunday a frail visitor walked in quietly and sat in the back of the church remaining until service concluded. Before he could exit the pastor introduced herself and politely invited the man to fellowship hour. He reluctantly accepted but discovered a friendly and caring congregation. Despite a plethora of food, he “ate like a bird” and simply took delight in listening to these people. His name was Art but he was nicknamed “the artful dodger” because of his expertise at deflecting questions about himself while learning everything he could about the church members. No one knew anything about his family, religious background, career, or even if he had a spouse or partner. However, he was steadfast in his concern for his fellow congregants. Art was often the first to say “I hope your mother is feeling better” or “congratulations on your new job”. He never failed to send birthday and sympathy cards or visit church members when they were sick.

After a month or so of Art not coming to Sunday service the pastor received a letter from a lawyer inviting him to his office. There she learned that Art recently died but the sole beneficiary in his will was the Church. He also wrote this comment for the lawyer to share with the pastor: “When visiting a church, I don’t care if the preaching knocked your socks off or the music was worthy of a Grammy award, the thing that’ll stick in your heart is whether or not that church made you feel welcome.”