Invited vs Welcomed
I lead a small group for several months of the year. It’s the best group of people. We’ve talked about something before that I’ve been thinking about lately:
There’s a difference between being invited and being welcomed.
We extend invitations for all sorts of reasons: we genuinely want to spend time with someone or get to know them better; we are trying to widen our circle, and be more inclusive; we feel obligated; we think it will benefit us in some strategic or monetary way, etc.
Committees do this, too, as do churches and other organizations. But often what is meant by an invitation is, “We want you to come, but when you get here, we want you to be like us,” or “We want you to be/come someone we find acceptable.”
Sometimes we like to say “All are welcome,” but we rarely mean that.
It’s a big concept for such a small word. And it’s okay sometimes if “all” is not the right word — not everything/every place is for everyone. But words matter, and if we say, “all,” we should probably mean it.
These are the Merriam-Webster definitions:
invite: to request the presence or participation of
welcome: to accept with pleasure the occurrence or presence of;
to receive gladly into one's presence or companionship
But we already know the difference. If we invite people, shouldn’t we also ensure they are welcomed?
xo,
Beth
