At last - the students have returned to the city. It's been a good few weeks - new faces around the shop, more people using the free WIFI facility, and the start of our book group. Yes - it's a new term. We've just come back from a couple of weeks on holiday and before we went away there was a real sense that the whole project was ticking over the way we'd imagined it would. It's not just about footfall in the shop though - there have been some really good conversations - a surprising number of people are prepared to talk when given a comfortable place to sit and a fresh cup of coffee.
One significant development for Alan was that for the first time in nearly a decade he could just walk away from the church without having to make detailed plans for cov - whether to cover worship, teaching, pastoral care, or staffing the shop. It's a real indication of how blessed we are in talented and committed folk that it just came together as everyone mucked in. Alan at least had the grace to admit that he found it difficult to just leave people to get on with it -but he took a leap of faith, and wasn't disappointed.
One of the ways in which the rest of the crew carried on was in organising an acoustic / open mic night, which took place on Friday 16th October. It was well attended, and while most of those there came as a result of personal contact with the church folk (which is great) there were also a few locals who just walked in off the street, and a few new contacts were made. Excellent, long may it continue!
