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‘Meeting God in an ordinary place’. What can we learn from Coffee Shop Sunday about meeting God using the internet to encourage and develop fellowship?

Werrett, Simon
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Affiliation
University of Chester
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2024-10-13
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Theology and Religious Studies
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Abstract
All are welcome at the ‘common table’ to enjoy the ‘table talk’. How does Coffee Shop Sunday (CSS) (Coventry and Nuneaton Methodist Circuit Project) reflect that alongside pointing people to Jesus? CSS began a worship service in a Coventry Costa Coffee Shop in December 2019, this was severely disrupted with covid-19 restrictions and their concept of ‘meeting God in an ordinary place’ moved online. The internet through Facebook and Zoom became the ordinary place they met God. Since March 2020, the online work has grown from initially meeting four days a week to daily activities with participants from five continents. Two of the principles of CSS are encouragement and fellowship. The paper will explore (1) How the internet became the ‘ordinary’ place to meet God for people from different denominations and cultures. (2) How fellowship is experienced, using Russell’s ‘round table ecclesiology’ model where those present participate in a way which reflects their own journey of ‘faith and struggle’. (3) How does CSS point other people to Jesus through its activities. Barth emphasises that churches or a Christian’s activities should not focus on themselves but ‘point to Jesus’. By reviewing CSS activities, I will demonstrate that they point others to Jesus.
Citation
Werrett, S. (2024). ‘Meeting God in an ordinary place’. What can we learn from Coffee Shop Sunday about meeting God using the internet to encourage and develop fellowship? Practical Theology, 17(6), 567-578. https://doi.org/10.1080/1756073X.2024.2403204
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Journal
Practical Theology
Research Unit
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10034/629076
DOI
10.1080/1756073X.2024.2403204
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Article
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Description
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
Series/Report no.
ISSN
1756-073X
EISSN
1756-0748
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Unfunded
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https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1756073X.2024.2403204