We enjoy going to café church together, and enjoy our worship there, although we have very different personalities and so appreciate different aspects of church in a real café. Church in a café means for us real coffee, but much more. Although it can be a bit noisy at times, the management at the Living Room always reserve a large table for us up the back, and the staff know us and are most welcoming.
Along the way as Café church developed, the team decided it would be great if we could start having communion before each session. We felt it would bind us together more. We also questioned how could we be real church without having communion, as it is a central part of church, a central part of our faith?
So we developed our Agape Meal, a short and simple way of sharing the bread and the cup together. An Agape Meal is a religious meal shared as a sign of love and fellowship. It provides a great opportunity to experience God and share the Christian faith.
People drift in and out of café church as their needs change. Some come seeking shelter and support when they need it, stay a while, and move on. Maybe they were previously regulars at a traditional service but their family circumstances changed and they felt uneasy in that context.
The group at café church have always been welcoming to all, from the regulars from traditional services seeking something more or different, to the strangers who found us through the local newspaper. All bring something unique to the group and are welcomed in their uniqueness. Even their unique opinions are tolerated!
We find that the sharing of aspects of our lives and our concerns for our families, friends and world, goes beyond that of a discussion group. Somehow the cafe setting seems to make our discussion more relevant, and less abstract.
As we say, when café church is winding up on a Saturday morning:
“Our meal is ended, but God’s banquet continues as we go from this place. Let us take the banquet into the world and never give up until all people are fed. May God’s blessings be upon us, and may we be channels of peace and justice.”
Sharon and John