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Host opened in September and we are part of Moot. Moot is a community, a Christian community,
part of fresh expressions in the city of London and we're based at St Mary Aldermary which
is right at the heart of the city, it's just at the junction point of Watling Street and
Bow Lane.
People come in and they're like oh, a café in a church and they ask us are you part of
the church and can I come in here, can I have a meeting in here, can I come and sit in here.
So it's been really a nice positive way just to meet people and just say you're really
welcome in this church. And to see the church you know with people sitting in it, it becomes
a warm living space.
We're right in the heart of the City of London so we're at the junction point of Bow Lane
and Watling Street, just down the road from St Paul's, right outside Merchant House tube,
thousands of people walking past here every day. And we're open to the street on two sides,
we have notices out saying new café inside church, come in, come and find out a bit more.
We're planning to open onto the third street, Watling Street, so we'll be open onto three
sides of the street and the point is just to really encourage people to come in and
see this beautiful church, it's got a beautiful ceiling, it's a lovely space to be in, to
say to people come and own this space with us, and just come and you are as well. You
haven't got to change to come into the church, you can come in as you and from there you
can buy a coffee, you could just sit at a table, you could sit on a sofa, you could
read the paper, if you want to you could move into the area with the pews, you could spend
some time just sitting quietly, you might like to pray, you might pick up a leaflet
about a meditation or a yoga class, so there's lots of different ways people can then just
become aware there's a community at the heart of this church. And we have different points
for people to perhaps consider the spiritual side of life.
I guess Host is a bit like our shop front. It's the access point, it's the first point
of meeting for people, they're going to come through and they're going to see us, they're
going to get a warm welcome, they can buy a drink, but also they can get to know us.
I think that's really important today, that people can actually get to know people who
are part of the church and just ask us any questions, find out about what we're doing
and we can just say yeah, of course you're welcome to come along. Come along if you want
to.
Moot I think has a particular vocation to connect with spiritual seekers who might describe
themselves as spiritual but not religious. So those who would identify themselves as
exploring the spiritual dimension of life but who are not going to automatically walk
into a church and take part in a church service. It both reflects our own journey, as a community
we've been on a journey into prayer, into deeper forms of prayer that are part of the
ancient Christian tradition so silence, meditation, using the body to engage in prayer, learning
to connect with who we are, that's all been part of our journey. We also find that connects
with people outside who are also searching so it's inviting people to come alongside
us and just participate with us wherever they are.
We're in an environment where there's a lot of pressure on people, people are working
very long hours and it's difficult I think sometimes to step out of that and to give
yourself a bit of space and a bit of time just to be. And I think that's what we want
to say is this space represents that, it represents who we are as human beings and actually we
can't neglect this side of ourselves. And so wellbeing - things like mindfulness, wellbeing,
they're part of the journey into what it means to be human and we neglect it at our peril.
And it's also business needs it, we all need it.