A Hall Called the Welcome

“Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor.” — from Luke 14

In Belfast, thousands of girls worked in the linen mills. They worked long hours in hot, wet, noisy rooms. They were too poor to buy hats, so they wrapped shawls around their heads instead. People called them “shawlies,” and it was not a kind name.

Very few shawlies went to church. The churches were full of people in hats, and a girl in a shawl would have felt out of place. But Amy noticed them. She started a Sunday morning class for them in a hall belonging to her church. Some church members were not pleased! But the girls came, and they kept coming. Amy taught them the Bible, sang with them and prayed with them, and they could tell that she really cared about them.

Soon there were too many girls for the room. Amy began to pray for a building of their own. She saw an advertisement for a hall made of iron sheets, big enough for five hundred people. It cost five hundred pounds, which was a huge amount of money. Amy did not ask anyone for it. She asked God.

The story goes that a Christian lady named Kate Mitchell heard about the need and gave all of the money. A mill owner gave some land to build on. The hall was put up, and it was called the Welcome. That name said everything. It was a place for girls who did not feel welcome anywhere else.

The Welcome Hall still stands in Belfast today, and a church still meets there.

Jesus told a story about a great feast, where the poor were brought in to share it. God’s family has room for everyone. You can help someone feel welcome too, perhaps someone who often gets left out.

Dear Jesus, thank you that there is room for everyone in your family. Help me to notice people who feel left out, and to make them welcome. Amen.