Our New Sign In The Narthex

You might notice we have a new sign in our church.  There is a bit of a story to it.  A friend of Alison's was in Bristol, England visiting the Cathedral there.  In their Narthex was a sign similar to this one and she took a picture of it and sent it to Alison.  She shared the picture with others and we all loved it.  We decided to edit it a little and similarly put it in our entrance. However, we did think we should give Bristol Cathedral credit, so we contacted them and asked their permission.  They said, "Please do use it, and don't worry about giving us credit because we took the idea from another Cathedral and we can't even remember which one".

When we at St. John's say that All Are Welcome, we really, really do mean it.  The words of welcome in the sign are part whimsical, part spritely, part purposeful but all of it sincere.  We hope you like it, and please feel free to share it with others.

If you can't make out the words in the picture of it above, here is the complete text:

We are here to follow Jesus, worship God and serve our neighbours and our world, and because of that... you are welcome here!

We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, or widowed, straight, gay, or bisexual, cis, trans or non-binary, Queer, Questioning, Two Spirited or don't like labels. You are welcome whatever your colour, race, tribe, culture or language.

We welcome you whether you are inquiring, curious or uncertain about your faith or just trying to get out of the cold rain. We especially welcome wailing babies and excited toddlers.  God loves them and so do we.

You are welcome here if you are just browsing, just woken up or just out of prison. We don't mind if you're more Christian than Saint Paul or more Anglican than the Archbishop of Canterbury, haven't been to church since you were a child, follow a different faith, or have no faith.

We welcome weary parents, street poets, street artists and street pastors, eco-warriors, vegans, pet-lovers and junk food eaters. You are welcome whether you got here on foot, by bike, bus, skateboard, or mobility scooter. We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted. We welcome you if you are having problems, feeling blue, or just need some place to be calm.

We offer a welcome to those who work too hard, don't work, can't work, or are here because granny is visiting and wanted to look around. We welcome those who are inked, pierced, both or neither.

We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now, have given up on organized religion, or got lost on Lonsdale Street and ended up here by mistake.

We welcome pilgrims, tourists, seekers, doubters - and we especially you...So, PLEASE COME IN!