Wales: Bread, fish, beer - life in a pub church
Bar None is a church in a pub in Cardiff, Wales. Chris Coffey, one of the
founders, says "The employees like working in the cellar which we rent every
week. They enjoy the atmosphere, take part in the discussions, and sometimes
ask for prayer. I think that is an indication: when the employees who have to
work during a Christian event don't stand around, tensely waiting for the end,
hating every minute, that's a good sign..." Bar None began with three friends
who met at a Christian festival and discussed ideas of how to be church in a
unchurchlike manner. They came up with the idea of a pub church. A group of
Cardiff Christians decided to check out the city's pubs, to find out if any
were open for the idea of being a pub church on Sunday. They expected
rejection, but were astonished that most were excited by the idea. They finally
settled on 'The Oz Bar' in the city centre.
Newspapers and Bibles
In the first meetings, they laid Bibles and newspapers on some of the tables,
held discussions and sometimes a 10-minute talk, a songwriter presented a song,
and discussed the meaning. "The best evenings were often the ones which we did
not plan," says Chris. "Someone would ask 'Why do you lot believe what you
believe?' and things would go from there. To start with, we had around 100
people each evening, including many curious Christians from local churches. We
now have thirty to forty regular visitors, many of whom do not attend a
'normal' church because they think they would not fit in. Bar None is one of
four fellowships belonging to the Glenwood Church. It is important for people
to recognise that they are not in a waiting line for a 'real church', but that
this is 'real church'! And one of the most important things that we have
learned is that we do not need to have an answer to every question, and do not
need to justify everything that we do," he says.
