Serving much more than food... the Brentford Open House Community Cafe
Operating between the street and the church, the Brentford Open House
Community Café provides hot meals and a listening service to many lonely
and elderly people.
Under the motto ‘Food for the body, food for the
soul’ the team offers what appears to be an ordinary practical service
but which is actually much, much more…
‘We don’t just serve food. We serve something else’. This is a café about far more than food.
Run by St Pauls and St Faiths churches in Brentford, West London, the café is seen as a core mission of both churches and is well integrated with them.
Around 1985 two women had the vision of providing the community with tea, cakes and the opportunity to chat after St Pauls was reordered. They saw the potential in the new space - clearly part of the church but outside the sanctuary area, and the café was born!
Now employing a professional chef and serving 30-40 hot meals between 12-2pm every day, the cafe provides some with the only hot meal they will get in the week while for others, it may be their only meaningful human interaction. It also serves the non-church groups who use the church building - a stroke club and a toy library - as well as local office workers. Most will have no other connection with the church.
Both congregations and those involved are clear about their vision -
providing a much-needed service that embodies many core kingdom values -
but it is not about results or church growth. It may not even be about a
full café!
Embodying the Kingdom
The curate, Gill Toogood, finds inspiration and encouragement in an MA thesis exploring the metaphor of the café, written by a previous vicar, ‘Welcoming the stranger and outsider, and choosing to eat with those on the margins are threads seen throughout the gospels. Our intent is that Jesus is modelled and being made visible. We don’t make boundaries between eating, fellowship and worship. Christ is reflected in all that we do. We hope people will come to know the presence of God through those who welcome and serve them.‘
A recent survey has encouraged Helen Purcell, the Project Manager that they are on the right track. 70% gave the welcoming atmosphere a top score, while 90% said the staff couldn’t be more friendly and helpful.
The café staff are all Christians – though some go to other churches - and they are keen to keep it that way. As Gill says, ‘We want to be a community offering community’. Volunteers are not necessarily Christians however, and are often referred from local mental health support workers or other groups looking for valuable work experience in a caring environment. They have seen many of their volunteers go on to get permanent employment and also see that as part of their outreach and are thrilled that two long-standing volunteers have just signed up for an Alpha course. Pamela is a volunteer who came to the café eight years ago lonely and unhappy with no church connection, ‘I’ve gained a lot of confidence since helping here. It’s welcoming and really nice. I just kept coming and then started going to church and now I’m on the PCC’.
The importance of Open Ears!
The backbone of the café, and key to its success, is the Open Ears scheme. The team have been training in listening skills and wear badges – a simple white ‘O’ on a red background – which identifies them. Peggy, an 80-year-old member of the team who also operates the till is an Open Ears member, ‘There are six or seven members of the team - most are church members and I am also on the PCC. Notices around the café – including right by the till - tell people about the service and how it works. We also have a board by the door for people to write their prayer requests for themselves or someone else.’
Michael Donnellan, the caretaker and Open Ears co-ordinator who has been involved in this ministry for around 12 years is clear that this is one of the main reasons the café exists and succeeds. ‘God sends some people for what we can give them – an initial support. The café allows the time to develop relationships and that does enable some people to come to the Lord. But most of the time we don’t see what God is doing.’
The team do see people find a faith in God through the café. Many do use the listening service – formally or informally – and four or five times a week someone will ask directly for prayer. Michael also finds that once every couple of months people come back and say, ‘Remember me. Two years ago I came in with a terrible migraine and you prayed for it and it went away. I’ve never forgotten that. Such encouragements remind me that we’ve no idea what impact we are having and just need to keep on doing it. Maybe that’s the way God wants it.’
Inspired? These are the team's Top Tips
- You need to do what you feel God is calling you to do and everyone needs to be very clear about this. We are clear we don’t want to become part of social services. We’ve also been careful not to get a name for giving free food. Also that a full and financially successful café might prevent us performing our core ministry - which is giving our time and care.
- Don’t do it all in your own strength – listening is draining and demanding. As are patience and long-suffering. Don’t slip into all work and no pray!
- Don’t allow yourself to become discouraged. Find strategies that work for you to remember the bigger picture and that God is working behind the scenes and seek renewal from him. Maintain good support networks.
- Don’t expect quick results. It takes time to earn trust and the right to speak into someone’s life.
- Do share encouragements – without names if necessary – with other members of the team.
- Do encourage prayer backup from a range of other sources – you’ll feel it when you can’t pray yourself. We produce a regular prayer letter that goes to both churches, but feel we need more!
Remember that most of the time you won’t see what God is doing, but you can be sure he’ll be doing it!
Michael Donnellan, Open Ears Co-ordinator
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