In most congregations, this means that both employed staff and volunteers need to be involved in outreach to persons in hospitals and nursing homes, as well as to those who are confined in their own homes or who are dealing with other problems. While the violent crime rate in North America has decreased in recent years, reporting of crime continues to increase. Following the tragedy at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, juvenile crime has come under very close scrutiny by the news media. Actions, which would have received almost no publicity twenty years ago, now become the subjects of headlines. News media reporting on both natural and human tragedy keeps some of us in perpetual fear of flying, driving, or sharing in social gatherings including school.
Many people play on our fears, including politicians and charitable fund-raisers.
Television dramas and motion pictures also feed our fears. We may find a certain measure of enjoyment in the charge of adrenaline that comes from fear during a show, but the memory of the fear often stays with us and affects our view of the world even though we are not likely to face the evils that Mel Gibson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Denzel Washington, and Sigourney Weaver do on the screen. It s difficult to develop healthy congregational morale among a fearful people. In our time, the practice of biblical hospitality is one of the most valuable ways to improve morale in the congregation, to pull new people into the community of the church and to reach out in Christ s name to a world in need. Life without Fear .