The Power of Welcome
Posted on Jun 23, 2026 by Heather Lewis
Salem has a quite a few super powers. We love to serve our neighbors, we’ve become very adaptable in our transitional years since 2020, and we are all about being welcoming. I also consider us a pretty tight-knit group, which in other situations tends to lean toward not letting others in, but Salem is an open-arms community.
We do this by leaning into our relationships. We chat over coffee between services, enjoy life outside of church with Fellowship of the Vine and Stein, and help our neighbors every Thursday with Pantry Pack. We have discovered while traveling between worship locations that the people are so much more important than the place we meet, and we are thankful to the gracious congregations who host us.
I hope you have experienced the extreme welcome we are receiving from Atonement Lutheran Church. Here are a few examples from my experience: when we requested the ability to use screens in worship, and it was determined that our projector wouldn’t work in their space, they purchased a 100-inch monitor and removed their pulpit to make room for it in their altar space. It covers a portion of a mural that stands behind it, so Nathan (Atonement’s communications director) used a photo of that part of the mural so that it blends in during their worship services where they aren’t using screens.
Two weeks after we began worshiping there, Atonement installed a new sound system. It was great to have a few weeks to introduce our full praise band, as they have never had a full set of drums go through their sound system. Kevin (Atonement’s AV director) continues to work very closely with our musicians and worship assistants who run sound to be sure we have everything we need. He met us at band practice to set the volume levels where we want them, and added a second songleader microphone channel for Kinsley and Olivia to lead together.
I have heard from many people that Salem is a warm and friendly group. Thank you for being intentional about connecting with each other and those sharing space with us. We are all God’s family!
In Christ’s love,
Heather Lewis
Director of Worship and Music
Director of Youth Ministries