Interesting piece in the Times last Saturday about fresh expressions of ministry in the UK – in this particular case, a priest and worshippers from the New Life Church in Bolton, who don’t have a traditional church building, but instead use the local pub, the Mosley Arms, as their place of worship, even for baptisms. Services start at 10.30am on Sundays and wrap up as the pub opens its doors at 12 noon, just in time for worshippers to stay on for a post service pint!
To quote the paper, “Instead of a nave and a pulpit they have the pub’s function room, where the Rev Ben Woodfield, 43, delivers his sermons and sometimes plays his guitar. Instead of a font they have a mobile baptismal pool borrowed from a local parish church that they can set up on the patio out back, drawing a crowd of onlookers from the street behind the pub. They have also held Christmas carol karaoke sessions in the main bar…Some of the church’s worshippers have become regulars at the pub.”
“Jesus went to where people gathered,” says Rev Woodfield. “A lovely pub like the Mosley is an example of this. Pubs are where people experience life’s big moments — weddings, birthdays, wakes — so holding services and baptisms here is a perfect fit. It’s informal, people feel relaxed, they sing and pray. To have a church here is just beautiful. The pub is one of the last remaining community outposts.”
Church of England guidelines state that “unless there are very exceptional circumstances, a christening must always take place in a church”. But in this particular case, New Life Church got special permission, known as a Bishop’s Mission Order (BMO), for its unorthodox approach.
This clearly begs the question as to whether we, as a small English-speaking Anglican presence within a large swathe of Spain, could do more. There are 12 Anglican churches along the costas from Gibraltar to Almeria, but only one, our Salinas congregation, inland. But there will certainly be English speakers who would like to go to church in cities like Sevilla, Cordoba and Granada, but no regular English language services. Perhaps this story offers an opportunity for us to think outside the traditional church-shaped box!
Read the article in The Times here.
Pictured above, The Simpsons ‘Last Supper’ at Moe’s Bar, from Season 36 episode 1