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 PrintableVersion Evangelism after darkOn reaching out to the club sceneWhen was the last time you ventured into a town or city centre late on a Friday night? The chances are it will look, sound and smell very different from the quiet shopping bustle of a few hours before. In Guildford, Surrey, the police have described the town as having a Jekyll-and-Hyde character with over 10,000 young people from the region coming to drink in the numerous pubs and clubs over a typical weekend. Guildford has a growing drink, drug and vandalism problem with broken bottles, windows and fights a weekly occurrence. On occasions the violence escalates and there have been serious incidents over the last few years including several murders. As young people and youth workers in the mid-90s we had been presenting youth evangelistic events in the town successfully for several years but still felt that these were not reaching that far beyond the church walls. We felt strongly that we needed to be present on the streets and wanted to be more 'incarnational' in our approach to evangelism. As a result, for six or seven years the Christian coffee tables (at one time there were three!) have been a weekly presence between 9 and 12 every Friday night offering tea, coffee, hot chocolate, prayer and the indispensable item - lollipops! For a few weeks, when we started, there was a suspicion of 'Bible bashers', but soon the walls came down and the evenings have been some of the most fulfilling and fun (yes, fun!) outreach experiences I have had. We have been able to get to know young people far better than by setting up meetings for them, and have built bridges for the gospel coming out of genuine friendship. The police and council have been affirming - and Christians are able to speak with genuine authority about the real situation in the town because they are the ones in touch. Simple formatThe format is simple - we meet for prayer and then fill up to ten flasks with boiling water. As well as the drinks we use a trestle table and a 'ghetto blaster' to play fun, uplifting music. Early on in the evening there are usually quite a few younger teenagers hanging out, skateboarding and meeting friends but as they drift home around 10.00 pm, the 'clientele' changes to students and older teenagers who stream from pubs to the clubs where drink is still available until 2.00 am. Some of the key principles we have learned over the years have been: Be fun!The town centre is not nearly as intimidating as it can seem. In all the years we have not had any major incidents involving our work. By and large the pubbers love the presence of the tables and the chance for a chat on the way to a club or the train station. Those who are 'merry' can be a bit boisterous but also, conversely, can be open to chat honestly and at more depth than normally. Some, especially when fuelled by drink, will look to shock 'sensitive' Christians, but we choose not to rise confrontationally to the bait. We have always had one or two of the team who are good at 'give and take' banter. Be consistent!Our presence each week lifts the pressure from having to share the full gospel within 30 seconds! We get to be known as Christians very quickly and some weeks we will talk at depth but at other times it's a quick chat about the football or latest TV craze. Many people assume Christians are only there to preach or condemn and are pleasantly surprised by genuine interest in them! Inspire curiosity. This is not hard, as the most common question is: 'Why on earth are you doing this?' At other times we have initiated an icebreaker question in return for a lollipop - such as 'if you could ask God one question what would it be?' We have used the evenings to complete questionnaires on spiritual opinions and thoughts on what the council should provide for young people in the town. Be practicalBefore we started we spent a couple of weeks walking and praying in the town before deciding to situate ourselves at a major pedestrian intersection - in good light and under a CCTV camera. We let the police know what we were doing and have had all team members police-checked and covered by a child protection policy. We also let the church insurers know about the new activities for third party liability cover. As time has gone on we have developed a few foundational principles on what to do and not to do, and got advice from independent youth workers on things to avoid. The fruit of these few years has been overwhelmingly positive. We know hundreds of people well and they like the face of the church and gospel we have presented. We have prayed with people and talked with them through relationship crises, bereavements and spiritual questions. At key times we have invited people to special events or alpha courses. We have maintained contact with 'backslidden' Christians from youth groups and had authority to speak into youth issues in the town - even at council level. At one time a non-Christian youth worker was asking if we could supply team members to work on a local estate. Many former team members are now youth workers in both Christian and secular youth agencies. Perhaps the overwhelming impression has been - from both non-believers and team members - that this is what the church is meant to be about - a prayerful, grassroots presence bringing, as well as speaking, the good news of the gospel on a consistent basis. Ian Nicholson,
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