Showing posts with label cafes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cafes. Show all posts

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Sunday mornings in Starbucks

I'm having my second 'don't go to church Sunday' this morning! Instead, I will will be going to Starbucks to sit and watch and listen and probably pray. For those who fear that I'm backsliding, I shall be going to church twice later today to lead and take part in two services.

The first time I did this - at the beginning of the month - I caught up with a friend and got a picture of the traffic through the cafe at the time we're holding our morning service. The medium-term aim is to assess the value of having a monthly cafe church at Starbucks that starts around 11:00am. Having done this research, I shall convene our cafe church planning group and see whether this is a way forward.

At the same time, we are exploring whether to run a cafe church type event for the families of our GB girls, running from 5:45-6:45 on a Thursday evening at Starbucks and offering parents an opportunity to chill and find out a bit about what their girls are doing and what the Christian faith is all about.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

working in Limehouse's premier chilled space

I'm sitting in one of my favourite cafes in London - Departure in Limehouse - listening to Soulsavers' Broken, stunning new music that I discovered through Word Magazine, They're a British production and remix duo, Rich Machin and Ian Glover, who work a lot with singer Mark Lanegan. Wonderful downtempo, bluesy, gospelly electronica with rock overtones.

Departure is run by London City Mission and is one of the most intriguing new mission projects I've encountered. It's a great cafe and art space located squarely in the racially mixed community around Limehouse. It offers art classes, space for hire and a great chilled environment for meetings. So, I'll be here for the best part of the day meeting Urban Expression folk and doing some Baptist Assembly planning.

The other new music I've been listening to today is Laura Veirs truly lovely new album, July Flame. Something of a departure (see the link there...?!) for the US former geologist; a much more stripped down sound that showcases her voice and lyrical flair. And it's only a fiver this week from Amazon as a download. How's that for a new release?