Café Church is a broad term for any kind of worship or community gathering around tables with food! You might call it ‘Breakfast Church’ or ‘Sundays at 4’ or ‘The Gathering’ but the idea behind it is that there is a relaxed informal environment, people sit so they can chat comfortably with each other, and usually can help themselves to food and drink while other things are going on.
Sometimes Café-style worship will be held as an alternative to more traditional Sunday worship, on a fourth Sunday morning in the month, for example. Other groups may hold Café Church at a different time of the week or later on a Sunday so it fits with the rhythms of those we live among. Our aim in Café Church is to engage with people who would not normally come to church as it is, and enable them to re-connect with God or to meet Jesus for the first time.
We usually hear the story of at least one Café Church at each Hub event and find out how it came about and what it looks like now. We find out what people have learnt and how they’ve adapted from their starting point. There are opportunities for questions and more stories.
Some of the questions we address at Café Church Hub gatherings are:
- Do you start with Café and add the Church bit later, or launch as a Café Church?
- How do you make Café Church intergenerational, a place for everyone to learn about God and worship together?
- How much should it be like a café, and how much like traditional church?
- How do you build teams of volunteers?
- How do you make disciples through Café Church?
Our first Café Church Hub event was held in September 2018, led by a couple who have been hosting transformative Café Churches since the early 2000s. We held a second one in April 2019, and the next one is scheduled for spring 2020.
If you’re excited about your Café Church and what God is doing in it, or you’d like to have an opportunity to share with others about what’s going well and what needs more thought, you are welcome to join us. Or if you’re just starting out, do come along!
Who to contact
For more information about the next event or anything else, please contact: Emma Bartlett, Pioneer Project Administrator.