Published: Thursday, 25th September, 2008 08:00
Learn about Christianity in a bar
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Members of Reading Family Church, which will be running an Alpha course introducing Christianity in Glo Bar in Reading town centre. L-R Tim Jablonski, Nicola Abram, Sean Green, Sam Lomath, Andy Craker, Hannah Burnhams, Tom Riches and Scott Taylor.
Pic by: Kevin Poolman
TWO thousand years after Jesus turned water into wine and fed the 5,000, a course about Christianity will be held in a bar and restaurant.
Reading Family Church will be running an Alpha course discussing the meaning of life at Glo in St Mary’s Butts in Reading town centre.
Nicola Abram, the church’s Alpha co-ordinator, said: “We’ve done Alpha before, but we really wanted to do something local to Reading culture. I think it’s nice for the church to meet in church buildings, but it can be quite scary for people not from that background, and a bar and restaurant is somewhere where people would go normally and feel comfortable in.
“Alpha has been running worldwide and lots of people have found it really helpful to explore the meaning of life in a light-hearted and fun way. It is open to people of any religious background or view point or none.
“There will be no pressure. The focus is on building friendships with people and being honest, helping people to decide for themselves what they think about the big questions of life.
“Hopefully it will also show people that Christians aren’t afraid to have a good time.”
The 10-week course was developed 30 years ago and has since been run in more than 160 countries world wide by churches of all denominations. Organisers estimate that two million people have attended a course in Britain and 11 million have done it globally. It presents central Christian beliefs about God, the Bible, prayer and other topics and invites discussion and questions.
The first session will be 7.30-9.30pm on Monday on the topic “Christianity: Boring, untrue and irrelevant?”. The meal, talk and discussion will be held in the upstairs loft bar and the organisers are expecting 35 to 40 people.
Assistant manager Gary Davis said: “It’s quite a different idea, it’s the first time it’s been held in any establishment I’ve worked in or heard of. I think it’s a great idea. It shows the church is becoming more open-minded in its ideas and willing to look at meeting people in different places.
“Monday is one of our quieter days, so we were more than happy to accommodate them free of charge and offer a reduced-price menu.”
Guests can make a voluntary £5 contribution and the church will cover the remaining cost.
Reading Family Church is part of the Newfrontiers family of churches. It has offices in London Street in Reading town centre and holds its weekly service at 10am on Sundays in Reading Girls’ School in Northumberland Avenue, Whitley.
To come to the first session call 0118 933 7961 or email alpha@readingfamilychurch.org.uk
Visit www.readingfamilychurch.org.uk
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