What Mission Means.

This is a collection of personal views about Mission drawn from the members of the ACTS Mission Network. It may used as a discussion starter amongst groups, or for indivduals to reflect upon their own understanding of mission in light of the thoughts of others from across the ACTS member churches.

What Mission Means is available to download as a pdf file

For a hard copy or further information about the ACTS Mission Network contact Shona Paterson at [email protected]

The date of the next Mission Network meeting is on Thursday 17 NOVEMBER 2011. The agenda and venue is yet to be confirmed. A part of the meeting will be shared by members of Faith Studies Network .

The minutes of the previous meeting have been sent to members. If you would like another copy please email Shona.

A meeting of the Being Church Task Group will take place at Inglewood House, Alloa on WEDNESDAY 19 October 2011 from 10am (coffee and arrivals). Members of the Task Group will meet with those from Clackmannan Parish Church and Kinross Episcopal Church to discuss the progress since the last meeting and hear a report from Lesley Hamilton-Messer who will be attending a meeting with those from a similar project in Aberdeen. For more detials please email ACTS Network Officer Shona Paterson [email protected]

Would members please note that we now have our own networking site through ctbi www.ctbi.org.uk and follow the links to ACTS Mission Network, if you haven't already signed up it is a great opportunity to give it a go before the next meeting. The results of the recent Survey Monkey are also on the site.

Cafe Church

In recent years our society and culture has undergone tremendous changes which have in turn presented the church with a variety of new challenges. One of these has been to find ways of engaging with communities who are increasingly reluctant to come into church buildings or attend church events. For those who are at home in church it can be hard to imagine just how alien and uncomfortable it can be for others. Church for many is a stifling, constricting place - an institution in an age where people no longer trust institutions (often with good cause). The worship service is often a place of passive receptiveness rather than interaction, - probably one of the few places where this is still true. In education and the workplace learning and motivational techniques have changed drastically, with far greater engagement by the student or employee, yet the general impression of church is that it has not changed (this is not necessarily true, but it is the perception that many people have).

For many the pressures of both work and home are increasing – people have less time or inclination to attend church, especially if it is perceived as a place of additional commitments and pressures. The nature of community has also changed. Families are often spread over huge geographical distances, and more people are prepared to travel considerable distances for their employment.

Community has less to do with geography than the individual’s own social networks, and people identify and form community with those who share common interests or concerns. In this setting, the concept of ‘third space’ or ‘third place’ has become increasingly significant. This term relates to the concept of building communities – it is neither home nor workplace (first and second space), but a place which fosters and encourages a broader, more creative interaction between people. There have always been places in society where people interact informally, but what is new is that this third space is now being intentionally sought out as a vital part of our lives as social beings. Some of the hallmarks of third space are that it is local, accessible, inexpensive (e.g. no entry charge), welcoming, comfortable, preferably involves food and drink, and has ‘regulars’ who frequent it. Think of the bar in the popular US sitcom Cheers – the one ‘where everybody knows your name’ - and this will give you a good idea of some of the characteristics of third space.

One of the most popular environments for third space is the café or coffee shop. A café culture has grown up around the big high street brands such as Starbucks, Costa Coffee, Café Nero, etc., and replicated in a host of independent cafes. No longer there just to service a basic need for food and drink, they encourage customers to linger over the newspaper, a book, or catch up with work on their laptop. It is a place where people meet for business or to catch up with old friends and meet new ones and they are the venues for book clubs and hobby groups.

Costa Coffee estimate that 50% of adults in Britain regularly visit a coffee shop (compared with around 8% of adults who regularly attend a church). In Britain there is a shift from pub culture to café culture - every week in 2008 five pubs closed in England alone. One reason for this may be because coffee shops are family friendly places; groups of mothers can often be seen with their young children, perhaps having a coffee together after picking the children up from nursery.
One of the ways in which the church has responded to this is the development of a café church concept. The Church of England Mission Shaped Church¹ Report describes the term as:

‘an attempt to group examples that seek to engage with café culture and whose
external characteristic is a deliberate change of ambience and feel” when people meet corporately. In short, gatherings are around small tables rather than in pews. Drinks and often nibbles are routinely available at the start, rather than an option at the end. People characteristically sit and talk, rather than stand or defend their personal space. Interaction rather than spectating is encouraged. The venues are often secular: community centres, youth clubs, cafes and pub rooms…’

Café Church events are typically informal and interactive, with food and drink available at the start, or throughout the event. They may include quizzes, music, discussion and guest speakers. However, they tend not to have other elements associated with a church service such as public prayer, singing hymns, liturgy or the

*Mission-Shaped Church (Church House Publishing), P. 50.

sacraments. Events will normally be planned around a theme which concerns people, such as dealing with stress, parenting issues, the environment, finance, etc. There is an opportunity for Christians to inject a faith perspective in all these issues, and while it may seem to lack an overtly evangelistic thrust, all of these issues are discipleship issues, and areas where the church can genuinely offer guidance or challenge preconceptions.

Questions naturally arise from this:
• Is this primarily about building community with no other agenda?
• Is it just a way to get people to come to church?
• Is it a useful forum for teaching and exploring issues of faith and discipleship?
• Is it / can it be church?

The answer to all of these questions can be either yes or no. It is the responsibility of the church to reflect prayerfully and appropriately how they will engage with people through this medium, and where it fits into the overall life and witness of the congregation. As a method of engagement it certainly follows many scriptural precedents where Jesus, and later Paul, were often found in the public spaces, discussing and debating the issues important to the people, and presenting a Kingdom perspective.

There are two main ways that the church can use this concept. Firstly, they can use existing venues, and seek the permission of shop owners and managers to use their premises. The Café Church Network has already done a lot of work in this area and has secured agreements with the Whitbread Group (which includes Costa Coffee, Gloria Jean’s and are piloting schemes with other prominent brands, to allow local churches to hold café church events in their premises. Where an agreement exists with the Café Church Network (as with Costa Coffee), the company asks churches to work through the Network rather than approaching their shop managers directly. For more information about this contact the Café Church Network via their website www.cafechurch.net.

Over 30 Costa Coffee shops in England, and now two in Scotland, host Café Church events Even if you plan to work with another chain of shops, or independent café, a Café Church training day with either Café Church Network or RUN (www.run.org.uk) is advisable as, although there are many wonderful opportunities, there are also many potential pitfalls, and the training day will help prepare churches and teams.

The second way of utilising this is in communities where there is no ‘third space’ the church buildings can become third space. This could be in rural or remote communities with few local amenities, or in suburbs, commuter ‘dormitory’ communities and large residential areas where there is a lack of public space readily available to the local residents or workers. If the church opened its premises, bearing in mind the hallmarks of third space mentioned earlier, it could be a starting point for building community where there is none currently.

At a time when many doors appear to be closing to the church, this is one arena which is opening up in surprising and wonderful ways. It is impossible to tell how long this trend will last, but while it does hopefully many people will encounter the church in new and relevant ways.

Lesley Hamilton-Messer
Convener ACTS Mission Network

T h r o u g h t h e K e y h o l e:
Church in Community

Research study on the value of church in community
Based on the views of the ‘unchurched’