The Kingsway @ the Queensway is the name of a new plant (in the Queensway pub in Scunthorpe, England), that has multipled out of the newly planted Cottage Beck Café Church. It has been running every Saturday at 3 pm, since mid-January. “We have 7 regulars besides the Café Church team,” say planters Isobel and Bryan Webster. “The last two weeks we have had a further 6 new visitors, including two gentlemen who came up from the pub with their pints. They say that any time they’ve been to church before, they’ve felt they had to pretend they didn’t drink or have any bad habits.” It is very informal – but Bryan is teaching his way through Ephesians, they sing from worship CDs and pray for each other. They have had an anointing and their first Lord’s Supper. Healthy Churches Multiply. Are you involved in a creative church plant that is multiplying?
Hi Peter – this is part of the Cottage Beck Café Church Team: 2 Scots, a Finn and an Aussie in Scunthorpe, England! None of us has ever seen a blog before, so thanks for getting us started! Now we’ve been blogged and it’s quite nice! Thanks for including Kingsway at the Queensway – yes, we are excited and encouraged. Last week we realised that we are up to 16 regulars attending Church in the Pub – our usual room was not available so we were right in the pub. It’s interesting hearing Bible teaching being shouted to you over the noise of the football, and with, right next to us, a band setting up poles for the pole-dancing which was happening later! But we could all hear ourselves, and chaotic as it was, we realised that where once on Saturday afternoons we met as the four of us, now we are fourteen. So we are HAPPY and ENCOURAGED! A quick summary of our group may show why we think meeting in a pub is relevant – the young single mother who felt, when her child was a baby, excluded from church because she was single and the baby often made noise – she decided that a church which met in a pub must not be too critical; the gay young man who would never feel he could attend a “normal” church – he was not looking for church anyway, but he met us at Café Church, made friends, heard about Kingsway, and turned up; the two guys (one an ex drug-dealer) who like to be able to sit with their beer – other churches make them feel they have to pretend to have no “vices” – they were also friends from Café Church; the nightclub singer and her two lively (!) teenagers; the teenager whose mother was a heroin addict and who has a thousand problems but wants to be baptised… Most of this group also come to In Touch, our small group on Tuesday evenings, and this Monday the young mother mentioned is starting a ladies’ group in her home – Bryan has been training her in how to lead non-doctrinal Bible discussions. So that’s us, so far. We don’t know what we are doing most of the time, we encounter challenges we have no idea how to deal with, but God clearly has a plan, and we muddle along being blessed. Thanks for your prayers – don’t stop! And we pray for you. Best wishes, Eija, Andrew, Bryan and Isobel.
Michael, Bryan has told me how thrilled he is with what you are doing there for God. I am sure all bloggers who check out this story will stop and pray for the Kingsway @ Queensway.
DEAR PETER AND ALL
THANKS FOR YOUR PRAYS .I HAVE HAD A TROUBLED FAW DAYS.
LIKE PETER IN THE BIBLE I FEEL I HAVE DENIED CHRIST.
THE DAVIL KNOWS THERE IS SOMETHINK
HE CAN USE IN MY LIFE . I NEED TO WORKOUT WHAT THAT IS AND BRING IT TO GOD AND REPANT .ONLY I CAN DO THAT.
HE MADE ME FILL NO ONE LOVED ME AND I SPENT MUST THE NIGTH BY THE RIVER JUST THINKING . BUT GOD CAME TO ME AND SAID GO HOME.
I KNOW NOW THAT THE DAVIL CAN ATTACK US EVEN WHAN WE HAVE CHRIST
GODS LOVE TO YOU ALL
LOVE FROM ME TOO
MICHAELXXXXX
Great stuff! I just wanted to let you know I prayed for you guys this morning. A church in a pub? Sort of sounds like Jesus approach.
Yes, Lonnie, I agree. It is pretty exciting when ‘church’ emerges from among the people.