Behind the Ministry: Hospitality

Kristi Kim has been attending Metro Church for four years and serving as Metro’s Associate Director of Hospitality for one year. The Hospitality Ministry is important to her because it embodies and nurtures the culture of Metro: one that is deeply rooted in gospel transformation in the context of community. One of her favorite icebreaker questions is, “If you could only eat one form of carb for the rest of your life, would it be bread, pasta/noodles, or rice?”

In her free time, you can find her spending the whole day relaxing, eating, napping, and lounging with friends, most likely at Island Spa (a sauna/lounge in Edison, NJ).

We asked Kristi a few questions to gain some perspective on the purpose and characteristics of the hospitality ministry at Metro.

The hospitality team will be hosting their next Welcome Lunch on Sunday, February 15, 2026, immediately after the 9:30 AM and 11:30 AM services in the Conference Room. If you’re new or visiting, this is a great opportunity to share a (free!) meal with other newcomers, connect with various pastors and leaders, and hear more about Metro's mission and values. You can sign up here. Registration is not required, but strongly encouraged. Please contact kristi@metrophilly.org with any questions. We would love to see you there!

Q: What made you personally come to Metro? What made you stay?

A: “I moved to Philly during the pandemic and visited Metro through a recommendation from a friend. Despite the initial anxiety of stepping into an unfamiliar space filled with strangers, I was met with an incredible warmth—like entering the home of a friend inviting me to find rest and eat the sweet bread awaiting us. Since then, this community has been faithful to walk with me through the messy process of repentance and renewal, reveal my deep ongoing need for the Gospel, and help me taste and see that the Lord is good.”

Q: How have you seen acts of hospitality positively impact newcomers?

A: “One of the questions we ask new Hospitality Ministry members is, ‘Why do you want to join Hospitality?’ The most consistent response we hear is that they have been personally shaped by the warmth and generosity they received as newcomers, and want to respond by serving! The best part of their individual stories is that the experience of hospitality didn’t just come from the ministry itself, but from the church body living out our values as people transformed by the Gospel.”

Q: What does “radical” hospitality look like?

A: “The scriptural foundation for our ministry is 1 Peter 4:9-10: ‘Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.’

The Greek word philoxenia, translated as ‘hospitality’ in this passage, literally means ‘the love of the stranger (or otherness)’—love extended to those who are weak, abandoned, and in need of refuge. Rather than limiting generosity only to people of familiarity, power, or wealth, it sought to serve people who could never repay. Radical hospitality embodies the very nature of God: while we were weak and in need of grace, Christ died for the ungodly. Jesus took our place on the cross and paid our sin debt so that you and I can belong—not merely as welcomed strangers, but as children of God.”

“Radical hospitality embodies the very nature of God: while we were weak and in need of grace, Christ died for the ungodly.”

Q: Why is hospitality essential in the church?

A: “In John 13, Jesus says, ‘A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’ Hospitality is essential because Jesus commands it; it reminds us and others how deeply we need his hospitality (and have already received it); and because it is an active, overflowing response to his grace towards us.”

“Hospitality is essential because Jesus commands it… it is an active, overflowing response to his grace towards us.”

Q: If someone asked you how to grow in the act of hospitality, what advice would you give them?

A: “We sometimes think hospitality means having a friendly, outgoing personality (and it can be those things), but Jesus’ hospitality was rooted in something much deeper: his humility in becoming a servant. I’m constantly drawn to serve myself and look inward at my own comfort and strengths; so the best reminder I can give myself and others is to look upward to Jesus’ humility, and to look outward for small ways to philoxenia. Maybe it’s introducing ourselves first to someone we don’t recognize, connecting with someone outside of our natural circles (whether that’s a newcomer at church or a neighbor during outreach), or even helping to keep the church building clean!”