All are welcome, bar none

A month or so ago, I had the opportunity to attend our divisional Officers Fellowship (an annual officers retreat for a few days), and I enjoyed the company of my colleagues and also the worship sessions and teaching from our guest speaker.

One afternoon, during a period of free time, the centre we were staying at thoughtfully provided an ice cream bar for us. It was a warm day (around 30 degrees), so they put some umbrellas out for us on a lawn area and served up ice cream with a range of toppings. It was a lovely, relaxed time of chat and laughter; a nice moment to step well away from the busyness of ministry and just relax among peers.

I suggested to a group of corps officers that perhaps we needed to source some special funding to allow all corps to have an ice cream bar! We have many community members enter our doors each week, it would be a great promotion for a local ice creamery if they sponsored an ice cream bar at the corps.

Then I began to wonder what other ‘bars’ we could run at a corps. Except for that type that you’re probably thinking of right now.

A coffee bar – Many corps already have a good coffee machine these days. We can get three or four different types of coffee made for us. Now imagine an actual coffee bar that will make you coffee eight different ways, as well as iced coffees and a range of hot chocolates. Now you have a reason to invite your friends to church.

A shoe-shine bar – For those of us who still wear leather shoes to church, especially if you wear Army uniform, we still have to occasionally shine our shoes. Imagine if church had a classic American shoe-shine station manned by a highly trained volunteer and you could sit there with your coffee while your shoes were cleaned. Have members of your pastoral visitation team work there; it would be a great place for conversations.

A Bible reading bar – You take a seat, and the volunteer smiles at you and reads a short Scripture passage that they’ve selected just for you. You make a gold coin donation and go on your way. Just like getting your palm read, but in a Christian way. What a lovely way to support a corps fundraising effort.

A massage bar – Worship is always best if you’ve prepared for it appropriately. Maybe you listen to worship music while you’re driving to church, or you’ve turned your phone off for the morning, or you’ve read some Scripture to yourself. What better way to complete the preparation than to arrive at church, take a seat at this bar and get a five-minute shoulder rub from a trained volunteer before worship commences?

A Garra rufa bar – These are the fish, also known as ‘doctor fish’, that eat dead skin off your feet during a very fishy pedicure. You put your feet in an aquarium, and these tiny fish nibble away at your calloused feet, leaving you with smooth skin. Imagine being the only church in your community to advertise a Garra rufa bar. You don’t even have to feed the fish – your feet do it. Remember that Jesus and the disciples often went barefoot, and some of the disciples were fishermen. What a lovely, Bible-based way to start your Sunday.

Suggest one of these to your corps officers this Sunday. Tell them you’ve got a great idea for a bar opening at the hall. Good luck with that.

Major Mal Davies is the Assistant Divisional Commander for the Victoria Division