Cafe Church

St. John's Weston has decided that the final Sunday of every month will be Something Different Sunday, and today, we were part of that something.

Instead of hosting a traditional Anglican service of Holy Communion, St. John's hosted their first Cafe Church. Tables, chair, coffee, and sweets were set up on the parish hall. A small altar, complete with candles, was set up at one end, and we lead music from the stage. (The photo above shows our view from the stage.)

Gerald and I have played cafe worship services before, so we're really comfortable with the setting. They still kept the full Anglican service, complete with liturgy and Scripture readings. The priest, Michelle, wore robes, as did the lay minister. The contrast between the formality of the "Anglicanisms" and the casualness of the cafe setting was striking and lovely.

Instead of a sermon, Michelle encouraged each table to write their own prayer. During the prayers of the people, someone from each table stood and read their prayer for the group. It was so powerful, and when Michelle wrapped it up by praying "these are the prayers of your faithful people," it really was the prayers of the faithful people!

For the congregational music, we used Taize choruses, and Gerald and I did our own songs before the service and during Communion. We had 2 songs chosen for Communion, but they had such a crowd that we had to pull out a few more and did 4 in total. It always helps to have a few songs memorized and a few extra charts in the back of your binder!

What a great time of community! In the evening, we played at our St. John's with the worship team, for another great time of casual worship and discussion.

Kind of happy we only had one trick-or-treater - a night of relaxing and eating candy is a nice way to end a busy weekend!