Tonight our church will be open between 12-3am, serving tea and toast to young people out in Exeter. Here are some extracts from the early days...
Sunday 28th April 2013
For a long time James has wanted to start a night café. He is just unable to ignore the fact that Mary Arches Church is located opposite two nightclubs. This is where young people come and, if we are serious about going to meet them where they are, then this is where we need to be.
Last November James joined Street Pastors for possibly their wettest evening of the year. He returned absolutely shattered. Tired, yes. But more than that. He was shocked by what he had seen. The level of drunkenness, of violence. The broken bottles, the simmering violence, the language. Young people incapable and vulnerable after drinking too much. Abandoned by friends, either knowingly or unknowingly. Street Pastors have long been using our back room as a prayer base for their evenings spent in and around the town, but James saw the need for so much more.
So today church was opened up between 12 and 3am. Tea and toast were on offer. A place to be warm and safe. Vomit kits and buckets were also freely available. To those standing in the queue to get into the nightclub, the church looked inviting. It had music and lights. We are not a club, but we don’t look like a church either. They were intrigued, and they visited. They found a place of peace and calm. A place to wind down from the excesses outside. There were pool, table football, games consoles. It will take time to be known, to be accepted. We only have enough team to run one night café a month. We are not sure which night of the week is best. Friday or Saturday? Which night will be busiest? When can we connect with most people? To start with, depending on team availability, we will try both nights. In time we would love it to be a regular weekly refuge that could be relied upon, rather than on such an informal basis. We will need more team members.
Saturday 29th June 2013
At 2am, a girl was brought into church who had lost her phone, keys, money and friends. Perhaps mercifully she was too drunk to appreciate the gravity of her situation. The team warmed her up and started trying to sort out what would happen for her next. She lived too far out for a taxi, and had no money to pay anyway. James walked in and uncharacteristically he recognised her. She lived in one of the villages where he had been team vicar. He managed to track down her address. Two of our team were driving back past her door, and at 4am delivered her safely home. We don’t know if she appreciates how God protected her this morning, or what else could have happened. She may just think she was lucky. We know it is more than that and I am pleased we were there for her.
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