“Peace be With You” Interfaith name tags will be useful for any event that is open to the public – including weekly devotions, study circles, pot lucks, parties, celebrations, and any events co-sponsored with another group or religion. The interfaith symbols across the bottom tell your guests that everyone is truly welcome. The phrase “Peace be With You” across the top is a universal greeting that is both reverent and celebratory at the same time. They come in a stack of 50 individual name tags, so you can pass them out, or slide them into a conference folder.
Why Use Name Tags?
Old-timers are always the first to complain about name tags. They feel so artificial, so extroverted, so “out there.” But we don’t want our meetings to remain nothing but a group of old-timers, do we? DO WE? No. We don’t.
Religious gatherings are especially stressful for newcomers. Will they be carried off to join a cult? Will people tell them they are going to Hell? Will they make any friends? Just by showing up, a newcomer has demonstrated a profound level of courage and openness. We have a responsibility to turn their presence into a positive experience.
The simplest, most direct way to make people feel welcome is to let them know that we are willing to talk with them. That is what a name tag does. It says, “Hi! I’d like to talk with you, and I’ll even give you my name so that you can approach me first if you want to. I do not want to be a stranger to you.”
If only one new person is made to feel welcome, it is worth the few seconds it takes for forty – or even four-hundred – old-timers to put on name tags. And hey, it will help all of us old-timers avoid those Alzheimer-moments when we forget our close friend’s name.
Bottom line: Name tags help newcomers feel welcome. That should be our #1 priority. And if they are used at gatherings that bring together people from different places or different spiritual communities, then they help make everyone feel safer, more connected, more included, and more at peace.
Vicky Langston –
We like using these name tags for our Interfaith dinners.