Who Says We Must Have Welcome Teas?

Editor’s Note: August is a month of welcome teas and return to campus for many of our university ministries. To mark this, we revisit an article written more than 10 years ago (!), which invites us to consider the deeper meaning of what has become part and parcel of ministry routine.

At the start of every school term, most student groups on campus consign themselves to organising a welcome tea (which usually takes place at night, and with no tea in sight) in order to ensure their continued existence. The Christian Fellowships (CFs), too, organise welcome teas, attempting to inform and attract potential members. Attitudes in organising it varies – for some the current model appears to work well enough and repetition suffices, while others rack their heads for new formats and means. However, it may be beneficial for all to reconsider more fundamentally the meaning of welcome.

One Bible story that stuck in my mind as a child was the story of Zacchaeus in the Gospel of Luke. To Zacchaeus, the reviled tax collector eager to get a glimpse of Jesus, an unexpected, open-hearted welcome is extended to him from the one he longs to see. And in some marvellous way, this welcome is also that which each of us who has placed our faith in him has received. God is the initiator of welcome, drawing people perpetually into life in himself, and the best that any welcome can be is an emulation of that first, primitive, welcome; “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.”

Yet another story that sheds light on the meaning of welcome is often identified as the defining parable on hospitality – the parable of the Good Samaritan. Despite the ethno-religious animosity between Samaritans and Jews, the Samaritan chooses to look past it, instead looking into the face of the injured stranger, who may have even been offended or repulsed to be rescued by him. The Samaritan willingly takes on responsibility for him, in an attitude of neighbour-making, extending welcome despite having good reason not to do so. In doing so, he subjects himself to the uncertainty and vulnerability required for a genuine, open-hearted welcome.

First Welcome Tea of Acacia CF, as part of NUS VCF in 2026

Welcome, then, is an emulation of the welcome God first extended to us, and a willingness to subject ourselves to responsibility, vulnerability, and uncertainty. How might this understanding inform our approach to planning welcome teas?

At times, I have wondered if welcome teas have become mere routine, one-off events, that maintain a distance from the lives of those who come, and leaves much to be desired in terms of communicating the identity of the CF. While welcome teas may swamp and demand energy and effort, especially in the beginning of the academic year, they have become as “sacred cows” – refusing slaughter, and insisting on maintenance without evaluation of significance or benefit.

While I am not surmising that the cattle should be lined up for their grisly fate, perhaps reminding ourselves of the meaning of welcome can breathe new life into our critique, planning, and action. Do we see the new students as persons, instead of numbers or utility? Do we continue to remember them even if they do not attend CF gatherings or events anymore afterward (although wisdom draws the line between persistent concern and harassment)? Do we bother ourselves to befriend or follow up with the newcomer, especially those different from ourselves in the way they behave or believe?

Therefore, welcome teas are not mandated – however, I trust that most of us would still see the need for it, though now equipped with the following prayerful attitude (which I humbly submit to you):

May we remember to leave space,
To emulate the welcome with which God received us.
May we create spaces,
For encounters of mutual openheartedness;
Of mutual vulnerability;
Of mutual responsibility found in relationship;
Spaces in which welcome might greet welcome.

— Isaac Koh (Taken from Perspective, August 2016)
Isaac was a former FES Staffworker (2015-2020). He currently works at SMU’s Centre for Teaching Excellence.