St Bartholomew’s Church in Tardebigge, just outside of Redditch, normally runs a twice monthly Café Church in the Church Hall. Complimentary breakfasts are provided, and regular members of the congregation bring food to share too.
With the current Covid-19 situation resulting in social distancing and the closure of church buildings, Reader in training Dean Hall and Churchwarden and ALM Jane Hall felt called to keep the Café Church community engaged through live-streaming the service online. They have started a weekly ‘Byte Size’ version on a Sunday morning at the usual time of 9.30am.
Jane said: “We felt it was really important to keep the continuity of Café Church. Since we started in 2016, it has developed into its own community and we wanted to keep the momentum going and make sure that those who came had something that they could engage with.”
Jane and Dean recorded their rehearsal, which they uploaded to YouTube in case of technical issues and then they live-streamed the service with people joining in using Zoom. They hosted a shortened version of the normal Café Church including songs, a reflection and prayers which they’d encouraged people to submit beforehand.
“It was just Dean and I around our dining room table!” Continued Jane. “We did have Tardebigge Ted with us though who always comes to Café Church and it was great that people were able to chat to us and with each other during the service. It was a bit of a learning curve but it worked well and I’d definitely encourage other parishes to give it a go – we’ve had quite a few messages to say that more people are going to join us next week!”
Tardebigge’s first online Café Church went live via Zoom on Sunday 29 March at 9.30am. (A pre-recorded version was uploaded to the parish YouTube Channel).
All are welcome to join in future sessions - please email contact@tardebiggechurch.org.uk or phone 07980 358252.
