Welcome someone to your table
Some of the people looking hardest for a small, safe place to belong are the ones who left a church that hurt them but never stopped loving Jesus. Others simply moved, or are new to faith, or are between churches. None of them want a building or a program. They want a few honest people and a table. If that's what your home church, microchurch, or small group already is, there's someone out there who needs exactly it, and no good way to find you. This is a place to change that.
What these newcomers are carrying
They aren't looking for a hard sell, and they'll spook at one. Most were burned by a leader they trusted, or a place that ran on pressure and shame. So they come in cautious, testing whether it's safe, ready to leave at the first sign of the old patterns. That caution isn't a problem to fix. It's wisdom they earned. The welcome that works is patient: no pressure, no performance, room to sit on the edge for as long as they need. "Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God" (Romans 15:7).
The welcome we ask you to commit to
To welcome someone through Sanctuary, we ask your group to live by a simple welcome. These aren't rules we're imposing. They're just what a safe place already looks like:
- Questions are welcome. People can disagree, doubt out loud, and ask hard things without becoming a problem.
- No pressure. No one has to attend, give, join, or commit. They can come once and never again, with no guilt and no chasing.
- Freedom to leave. Anyone can step back or walk away at any time, and we bless them on the way out.
- We never pressure anyone to cut off family or friends who raise concerns.
- Leadership is accountable to someone outside itself, and money is handled openly.
- Newcomers are loved, not recruited or love-bombed.
- We don't claim to be the only ones who have it right.
- We keep people safe, and we point anyone in real crisis to real help (988), not just prayer.
That's the heart of it: "not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock" (1 Peter 5:3). If you want it spelled out, here's a fuller guide on how to welcome someone who's been hurt by church.
Add your group
If that's your group, add it here. We don't post your address anywhere. When someone nearby is looking, we make a careful, personal introduction, and they'll arrive with their own checklist, which is exactly how it should be.
Feel called to plant a new church? PlanterMatch, a free directory from Fuller Seminary's Church Planting Initiative, helps planters find the right network, training, and support.
Not hosting, but you know someone who left and isn't ready for a group yet? Sanctuary is a gentle first step for them: honest scripture, prayer, and a private journal, at their own pace. It's on the App Store and Google Play.