Reflecting on a recent workshop my husband and I took part in on the role of Jesus centre's in new forms of evangelism I found myself thinking about what different types of people I wanted to see the Jesus centre connect with.
Jesus Centre's are great at connecting with the homeless, poor, marginalised and those who want to learn English or need support through a difficult time in their lives. But for a while now we've longed to find ways to connect with students, graduates and professional people. It may seem a bit of a contradiction or challenge to use the Jesus Centre which is known for it's work with the poor to also try and connect with professional people. But I do believe that that it as much God's heart. Indeed the early history of our church started with Oxford and Cambridge graduates moving in together along side hippies, bikers and working class folk.( Check out www.jesus.org.uk/vault and search for "Fire in our Hearts" )
Our banner says "a place where everyone is valued" and that has to find ways to include the educated, middle-class professionals who are as prone to be lonely, unfulfilled and searching for a deeper meaning to life. We run a bi-monthly Business Man's breakfast in the Circle Cafe- which is primarily aimed at exploring how to combine faith and business, with the opportunity for business people to bring their friends to have breakfast and hear a short talk from a Christian professional about how faith impacts on their working life.
We also host a quarterly Agency Networking event, where social care agencies in Northampton meet together to share news, promote new services (or these days it's more likely to be commiserating over the latest funding cuts & project losses), mutually support one another and plan an annual agency open day to promote their work to the public.
In addition we recently, hosted an art exhibition by homeless artists organised through the Hope Centre, a day centre and night shelter provision. This was a great opportunity to meet other people working in a similar field, some of whom were Christians. These 'Theme nights' as we call them can be on any sort of theme- art, music, food, hobby, special interest and are an opportunity for small, local groups to promote themselves.
We want to take these opportunities and find new ideas for connecting with students, graduates and professional people.
Before coming to work at the Jesus Centre 5 years ago I spent 17 years working in social work, social housing and for national charities supporting the homeless or ex-offenders. This put me in touch with a wide range of professional people on a daily basis. As a young residential social worker, struggling to put my faith into practice at work (without getting sacked) I know what a wilderness it can be at times and how the demands of work load, career pressure and the need to find times and ways to switch off from the pain and suffering you are under pressure to 'fix' on a daily basis can leave you feeling life our faith isn't relevant or sufficient to provide answers for a suffering world. Faith gets squeezed out and the church appears largely irrelevant or disengaged from the social problems we are grappling with. We become increasingly isolated, frustrated, burned out, disillusioned. Some of the colleagues I worked with lost their partners, their mental health, developed addictions. This was also true of my husband. Going back to the seminar, he shared how having been a successful professional, Deputy director of a therapeutic school & community for some very disturbed young people his world disintegrated into alcoholism to cope with the pressure and demands on him. At that time whilst he wandered around in a daze, he didn't find what he needed in the churches he attended or in the well meaning traditional forms of street evangelism. What eventually reached him were practical acts of kindness and the love and acceptance he felt from the staff and volunteers at the Jesus Centre. (For more on his story check out You Tube- Socks-Northampton Jesus Centre.)
Jesus Centre's want to reach people that church doesn't reach whether rich or poor, illiterate or with a PHd. They all have a place.
If you would like more information on any of these events or to find out how you could get involved go to www.jesuscentre.org.uk/northampton
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