Bless This Home (Nirote)

"As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15c)

Marking a Home with Love

Hospitality and blessing, says Rev. William R. Nirote, are two markers of God's people found in Scripture. Followers gathered to break bread and pray together -- often in someone's home. These were places of security, peace, and God's welcome.

Honoring ancient traditions of hospitality and blessing, Nirote, who has blessed several homes during his ministry, has written Bless This Home to be a practical guide and ritual for clergy and lay leaders who are called upon to bless homes.

Bless This Home's ritual of hospitality can be used by clergy and lay leaders to bless a home and its residents, including:

• Gathering
• Blessing
  
• Closing

The book includes blessings for individual rooms and residents, and useful scripture passages, throughout the book.

Bless This Home is meant to be a celebration, a declaration of a household's faith, and an opportunity to ask God for divine favor. Residents can invite family, friends, and neighbors to witness this ritual and celebrate with them as they transform their dwelling place into a sacred space.

About the Author

William R. Nirote, an ordained United Church of Christ minister for over 25 years, received his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He has served congregations in Ohio and Maryland. Nirote and his wife, Arevena, shared their home with three children, who now have their own homes with partners and children of their own. 

Paperback: 40 pages (5 x 8 in.)
ISBN 978-0-8298-1988-5
2014