We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married,

widowed, divorced, gay, filthy rich, dirt poor, no hablo Inglés. We

extend a special welcome to those who are crying new-borns,

skinny as a rail or could afford to lose a few pounds.

We welcome you if you can sing like Andrea Bocelli or like a

person who can’t carry a note in a bucket. You’re welcome here if

you’re “just browsing,” just woke up or just got out of jail. We don’t

care if you’re more Catholic than the Pope, or haven’t been in

church since little Joey’s Baptism.

We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not

grown up yet, and to teenagers who are growing up too fast.

We welcome soccer moms, NASCAR dads, starving artists,

tree-huggers, latte-sippers, vegetarians, and junk-food eaters. We

welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted. We welcome

you if you’re having problems or you’re down in the dumps or if

you don’t like “organized religion;” we’ve been there too.

If you blew all your offering money at the dog track, you’re

welcome here. We offer a special welcome to those who think

the earth is flat, work too hard, don’t work, can’t spell, or because

grandma is in town and wanted to go to church.

We welcome those who are inked, pierced or both. We offer a

special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now, had

religion shoved down your throat as a kid or got lost in traffic and

wound up here by mistake. We welcome tourists, seekers and

doubters, bleeding hearts... and you!