The Gorgeous London Church That’s Also A Coffee Shop
https://t.co/zh4TEOxutj— sinfonia no.1989 🦉 (@symphony_221B) March 25, 2019
The Gorgeous London Church That’s Also A Coffee Shop
https://t.co/zh4TEOxutj— sinfonia no.1989 🦉 (@symphony_221B) March 25, 2019
My heart always sinks a little when I see this kind of thing. This move started among HTB type evangelical churches then spread among the more catholic-oriented ones – St Mary Aldermary was always rather high church. Of course such things help the bottom line. Money to keep going from renting out the space.
But still: we might wonder. Two problems:
1) It undermines any sense of sacred space. We need places where we can step out of the busy world into a place of peace and silence, and find perspective as we contemplate the things of God.
2) The assumption behind these moves is often this: ‘If we get people into church for coffee/post office transactions/children’s playground then they will feel welcome and come back for services.’ The statistics would seem to prove otherwise: see the report (using the word ‘oblivion’ for the Church of England) in https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/church-england-uk-young-adults-identify-british-social-attitudes-a8527136.html