JourneyOnline
FOR SOME Uniting Church people church is not a building with the cross out the front, but rather somewhere in the
community where people gather to relax, have fun and meet friends.
At Indooroopilly Uniting Church, across the road from one of Brisbane’s largest shopping centres, that space has become
the local pub.
Rev Josie Nottle said their Pub Church is a place where people can have spiritual discussions in a space where they are comfortable.
“The idea came from a recognition that many young people are wanting to engage in spiritual conversations and want
to belong to a community, but that the church is foreign to them or hurt them in the past,” she said.
“I was inspired by some of the fresh expression conversation to re-imagine what church could look like for these young people.
“I was reading a book by Dave Mail called Church Unplugged and he spoke of this idea that fresh expression church is not a stepping stone to the real church that happens at Sunday morning, but is church in its own right.
“I spoke to a few young people at Indooroopilly who I thought might be passionate about this and we established a small team of highly committed Christians who have formed the core leadership of this community.”
The group personally invited people they knew and now average around eight people per evening.
“At first we just started to meet in a pub setting to get to know each other and build relationships, but also to hold the God/spiritual conversations and hold God at the centre of this community.
“For many people (but not all) a pub makes more sense culturally than an 8am worship service at a church.”
The group has only been meeting for around five months so it is still early days but Ms Nottle aims to continue to develop a strong emphasis on God and how to live a life of faith.
She said the three guiding principles are: engaging (“points to God as he is, it’s about real life, relevant”), enriching (“real
community, growth focused, makes you think, love and God as a part”), and emerging (“new, goes from here, practical
expression, service, mission focus, an expression of love, we as a community point to God”).
The people this ministry is aimed at are not necessarily the people who fill the pews on the weekend.
“Our main target audience is the de-churched people; those who grew up in the church and have left,” said Ms Nottle.
“A part of what we are doing is re-building the notion that it is safe and OK to talk about your faith with others.
“Many of the people we are connecting with have scars from their time as members of the institutional church and for them
this is a fresh, safe and relevant way to share their faith once again in community.”
Ms Nottle said for her church is a community of faith.
“The community exists to firstly bring honour and glory to God, and secondly to encourage, inspire, resource and empower its members to grow and develop in Christlike character.”
Ms Nottle is open about her personal dislike of singing in church.
She recently spoke with someone who was “utterly shocked” that she would prefer not to sing as part of worship.
“She could not understand how this remained church.
I asked if she was part of any other communities besides church and she said she was in a netball team.
I asked her if she sang with them.
“For me church is not defined by the elements of a worship service.
“Although the proclamation of the word and spoken prayers are important and powerful, I do not define church by these.”
While parts of Ms Nottle’s church community support and encourage the Pub Church, not everyone shares her ideas.
“On the whole there is support,” she said.
“I think many members of the congregation are still unaware it happens.
“We hope it is a stepping stone or a vessel to a greater, deeper more committed faith.”
But that does not necessarily mean a stepping stone to the Sunday service.
Photo : Peter Hicks, Josie Nottle, Michael Henley and Cath Hiley doing \\\’chuch\\\’ at their local pub in Indooroopilly. Photo by Kim Henley
