The Spirituality of Welcoming: How to Transform Your Congregation Into a Sacred Community

This wonderful book by Dr. Ron Wolfson inspires, uplifts, and supports synagogues and individuals seeking to transform the synagogue experience for strangers entering our "tent". It's full title, "The Spirituality of Welcoming, How to Transform Your Congregation into a Sacred Community" let's us know from page one that this is a "how-to" book for synagogue success in this new millennium. Clearly, Dr. Wolfson has spent a lot of time visiting synagogues throughout America and listening to the hopes and dreams of congregations yearning for growth. And the synagogues seem to have a lot in common, regardless of their size or location. Each member of the synagogue is the Temple Representative, and, as such, is empowered to behave in a way that reflects the most basic desires of the community. However, what we say we want, and what we actually do, is often not on the same page. Dr. Wolfson's book makes it easy. He breaks down the issues into simple language and actions that all of us can understand and accomplish - if only we'd "just do it"! So, get out your Nikes and hit the street your synagogue sits on!

The Spirituality of Welcoming by Dr. Ron Wolfson is an eye opening realistic approach to making your Congregation into a viable, welcoming House of God. A must read for all Board and lay people of congregations. Follow up with Study Sessions to organize all thoughts and ways to impliment ideas.

This book provides a very "nuts and bolts" approach to the issue of integrating new members to a congregation as well as consolidating relationship with all members. Great resource, not only for synagogues, but for other faith communities as well.

Ron Wolfson accomplishes a very difficult task in this book. He writes a "how to" book that will help synagogue leaders improve the quality of their "products." Drawing heavily (but not too visibly) on the organizational dynamics literature he shows us how to change the way synagogues relate to their members and their prospective members. By using a pre-existing literature on how organizations in general can become better places to work and to do business with, he gently transposes employees and customers to the synagogue's staff (including rabbis and cantors) and its members. He studies the Christian mega-churches and the Jewish Chabad Lubavitch movement to understand and illuminate how to make a spiritually-based organization work well. In the process he puts together a package, based on the decade-long Synagogue 2000 project, that provides practical guidance on what synagogues can do to make themselves more spiritual, more attractive, and more successful with their members.

This book is an inspiration. Ron Wolfson presents excellent ideas to change the synagogue (or church) to become a more welcoming, engaging and spiritually uplifting place of worship. Anyone who cares about their religious community can learn from this.