Grace and peace to you this Christmas season.

At the heart of the Christmas story is a journey—a journey of a young couple, Mary and Joseph, searching for a place to stay. When they arrived in Bethlehem, there was no room for them. Yet in the kindness of a stranger, they found shelter in a humble stable. And in that simple space, Christ was born.

This story calls us to ask: Who are we being called to welcome today? Who in our communities is searching for a place to feel safe, to feel seen, to feel loved?

Is it the stranger—the one we don’t know? Is it someone who looks different than us, believes differently, or loves differently? Perhaps it’s someone whose traditions don’t match our own, or whose story feels unfamiliar.

When we make room for the stranger—for those on the margins, those we might overlook—we are making room for Christ himself. Just as the stable welcomed the Holy Family, so our churches, our homes, and our hearts are called to be spaces of radical hospitality and grace.

In the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, we believe God is calling us to live into this kind of welcome—not just at Christmas, but all year long. In the new year, we will continue to equip and support your ministry, helping you open your doors wider to welcome new disciples to be drawn into the love of God.

When we welcome the stranger, we welcome Christ. When we make room for those who love differently, think differently, or live differently, we embody the love of God that came to us as a vulnerable child in Bethlehem.

This Christmas, may we open our hearts and congregations to be spaces where all people find welcome and belonging—and where Christ is born again among us.

Merry Christmas, and may Christ’s love be seen in all that you do.