House Church Talk - Jesus in the workplace or the pub

[David Anderson]

     Grace and peace to your house,

We had a casual meeting today at our place of employment with a total of 
three in attendance. The other two come 30 minutes prior to start time. 
We mined the treasures of Jesus together, prayed, and got recharged. 

I hope God will add to our number.

Don't overlook the opportunities to meet in the unexpected places. If you 
are an employer, you could even suggest a fellowship meeting and offer an 
unused room. 

2 or 3 gathered, right?

WALES: Bread, fish, beer - Life in a Pub Church 

Bar None is a church in a pub in Cardiff, Wales. Chris Coffey, one of the 
founders, says "The employees like working in the cellar which we rent 
every week. They enjoy the atmosphere, take part in the discussions, and 
sometimes ask for prayer. I think that is an indication. When the 
employees who have to work during a Christian event don't stand around, 
tensely waiting for the end, hating every minute, that's a good sign..." 
Bar None began with three friends who met at a Christian festival and 
discussed ideas of how to be church in an unchurchlike manner. They came 
up with the idea of a pub church. A group of Cardiff Christians decided 
to check out the city's pubs, to find out if any were open for the idea 
of being a pub church on Sunday. They expected rejection, but were 
astonished that most were excited by the idea. They finally settled on 
'The Oz Bar' in the city centre.

Newspapers and Bibles In the first meetings, they laid Bibles and 
newspapers on some of the tables, held discussions and sometimes a 
10-minute talk, a songwriter presented a song, and discussed the meaning. 
"The best evenings were often the ones which we did not plan," says 
Chris. "Someone would ask 'Why do you believe what you believe?' and 
things would go from there. To start with, we had around 100 people each 
evening, including many curious Christians from local churches. We now 
have thirty to forty regular visitors, many of whom do not attend a 
'normal' church because they think they would not fit in. Bar None is one 
of four fellowships belonging to the Glenwood Church. It is important for 
people to recognise that they are not in a waiting line for a 'real 
church', but that this is 'real church'! And one of the most important 
things that we have learned is that we do not need to have an answer to 
every question, and do not need to justify everything that we do," he 
says. 

Source: http://www.pubchurch.com

    David Anderson