Cottage Beck Café Church was established as a link to the community in Scunthorpe (Lincolnshire). The Church in the Pub (the Kingsway @ the Queensway) was seen as another link to the community. With this in mind the In Touch meetings on Tuesday evenings – after the Café closes – was designed for deeper Bible study. 

Some café customers stay and other friends just drop in. Isobel says, “It’s a very frank and deep Bible discussion, aimed at people who have decided they are believers and really want to be challenged.” What Bryan and Isobel are finding is that for many, In Touch is where they start. Isobel observes, “Once they are regulars at In Touch (with in depth study), they start thinking about coming to Church in the Pub (for those just looking) – so it’s the wrong way around, but it seems to be working, so we’re fine with that!” 

“It is fascinating to observe how people who months or years earlier assured us they had no interest or belief in God, are comfortable in coming to Church in the Pub and talking about God,” says Isobel. “Ask who would like everyone to gather around them for prayer, and the most shy and unexpected people jump forward! They may have come to the Café regularly for months or years, casually start staying for In Touch, eventually turn up at the Pub, ask for prayer, and the next time you see them they have a story about God’s answer to that prayer.”