Sunday, December 03, 2006

Church Food


Today I cooked, a roast, the works, yorkshire puddings and everything, the puddings went a little flat once I got them out of the oven but generally I was happy with the end product. Roasts are easy it's just getting it all together at the end that is the hard part.

I got a comment on my post about risking it, sorry if the picture was offensive, my wife was away and I was missing her, I normally run my more random thoughts by her before I publish a blog. You should see some of the stuff I have had to delete.

Anyway, thinking about food, I believe in the power of the circle, not in some new age hippy way, but just in the whole thing about sitting together eating, drinking and enjoying each others company.

Food is a great social lubricant.

If we ever start a bigger thing here, I'd like food to be involved. People like a good meal, a church service that had a 3 course meal every week, wouldn't it be good if we empowered a catering team and made them feel as important as the worship team, employed a chef as well as a pastor. Poured as much money into it as some other obscure part of church life and then used it as a way of getting people to roll up to church. Not so it became some gluttoness food fest but as a tool to connect.

The problem with church things is that you can have those meals were everyone brings quiche. What about a good lobster salad or something like that.

My top ten random ideas for using our sunday gatherings and big buildings to get people in, nothing very radical, they would still be very easy to communicate the Bible, teaching, life lessons and have worship (maybe not musician led), no worries with communion either:

1: Sunday Lunch Church:
Huge professionaly catered meal
2: Live Sunday afternoon football Church:
With a bar provided, two free drinks if you bring a friend, communion at half time, 15 minutes is longer than most churches take!
3: Full English Breakfast Church:
Wonderful traditional british fry up before service.
4: Late night cigar and brandy church:
Start at 10pm leather seats, jazz, wooden floors, fire on the go.
5: Health Spa Church:
Massages, pedicures, hairdressing, facials, colonic irrigation etc..
6: Meditation Church:
Yoga, womb music, bible verses projected on the wall, huge bean bags
7: Art Church:
Painting, history of art lectures, sculpture, josh sticks burning etc..
8: Silent church
Big loungers, people sometimes just need to lie down, maybe provide ipods with a specific meditation, silent communion.
9: Pratical church
Don't have a service just gather then go out and do some stuff in the community
10: Darts Church
Darts tournaments (I was running out of ideas)

I use the term church in reffering to a service i know church is not a service, but hopefully you'll understand. Any other ideas?

I am not talking one off events but weekly, we could try it for 6 months if it didn't work we could go back to normal.

10 comments:

Jenelle said...

Three cheers for the professionally catered lunch church. As for the English catering it...eh? I've been here in London for the last few days and humbly conclude that the safest place to eat in England is the curry house.

dave wiggins said...

man ... if you ever start a silent church i'm there. actually i might do it myself

Tim said...

Sunday lunch church.... totally brilliant!!!

i've just read the comments on the "risk" post and i think anonymous posts are "totally irrelevant and uncalled for"

If you have a problem with a picture like that you must walk around with your eyes closed.

it's not the picture you have a problem with, it's your mind...trust me i know!

Brian......i'll be your wing man any day!! :0)

Anonymous said...

just like to point out that the person who wrote that post bout the pic is female..i didnt find it offensive but i think i make a valid point when i say that it is strange and inappropriate for a known christian man 2 post this picture..the content of the post was good but i personally felt the picture wasnt needed.it makes no difference to me if u want 2 keep puttin stuff like that up but u hit the nail on the head tim that you see enough of that everyday in this world let alone on a christian website..just statin my view on it.dont want to start an arguement.

Brian said...

Sorry i won't do it again.

Mark Robins said...

Late night cigar and whisky you'd have me. And no jazz. Music instead.

Anonymous said...

Football church sounds good - provided it is real, good atmosphere - not just an "evangelism opportunity". We did a kick boxing session for our home group last friday, worked well, maybe that could be added to the list?

Anonymous said...

Cigars, whisky and good music- I like the sound of it. Except I'd prefer wine...

I have a question though- what the heck is 'womb music'? That one made me laugh.

resa said...

what about knitting church? I just met a really cool girl who is not christian but would so come to knitting church

mens sauna church? (single sex as at least in sweden men sauna naked)apparently guys chat about real life things in saunas

play church? revolving around playing with kids in some kind of environment conducive to kids enjoyment, instead of the grownups expecting the kids to act like us, the other way around

i'd go to at least half of the churches you listed

Boys Town said...

sundays here have meant inviting some of the girls from boys town to come over and TEACH us to cook. trust me when i say that authentic chiles rellenos is quite the spiritual experience. i know some girls here who would really LOVE the health spa church. and by "girls here" i mean me.

instead of cigars and brandy, i feel that cerveza and tortillas might be our church here. love it.