Sanctuary Café and Christian Bookshop for Lymm!
The idea of a café with a Christian ethos and somewhere to show the world Jesus outside of a church building has been talked about by many people in Lymm over the last fifteen years or so. The vision was taken to the Churches Together in 2003. But it was not God’s timing and the idea was allowed to pass on into obscurity at that time.
When Sally and Andrew Willett came to Lymm in 2003 they began to listen to what God was saying to their church, and slowly the Lord started to speak to both them and their church about a coffee shop and Christian bookshop, not just facilitated by the URC but with Christians from Lymm working together united by the vision to provide a place of sanctuary and healing in a hurting world.
This vision has been shared through our Churches together meetings and after agreement from all churches to go ahead we formed a café management group comprising those who share the vision and have committed to see it through.
If you would like more details about what has happened recently all notes of the Café management group meetings have been e-mailed both to clergy and lay Churches Together reps or please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the contacts below.
On April 4th the ‘Sanctuary Café’ will be opened. Also subject to confirmation we hope to host a ‘Thank you’ breakfast for the churches after the service at the Dam on Easter Sunday morning. The Café will open on Tuesday-Saturday mornings 9.30-12.30pm.
Although based in the hall of Lymm URC a rota of Christians from across the local area will run it. The café will not exist to propagate customers with ‘Churchiness’ but to offer a place of oasis and sanctuary where ‘the practice of the presence of God’ is apparent in those working there.
We are looking for people who are prepared to offer ministry in number of different ways.
- Are you a praying person? Would like to join our group of intercessors or prayer ministry team?
- Do you have secretarial skills? We need a person who would be able to take minutes of the meetings and keep people in touch with what is going on.
- Do you enjoy meeting and serving people, and would be available to God working through you in the café? We need at least three people per morning to be on our rota.
- Do you enjoy making cakes or scones? It would be really good if we could offer some homemade produce.
- Do you have DIY or painting skills? During half term (16th-20th February) we will be having a working party to decorate and set up the café.
- Finance is needed both from the churches and individual Christians in the area, to get the project started. Hopefully it will soon become self-financing, but there is a lot of initial outlay. We would like items to be ‘sponsored’. Could you give in this way? (See attached)
- Do you recognise the importance of Fair Trade and could look into items that we could stock in the bookshop/gift area?
- Do you have art or graphic design skills and could help us with some ‘excellent’ publicity? We want Sanctuary Café to be seen as professional as anything else in Lymm or Warrington.
We are open to prayerful suggestions of anything else, which it is felt God wants for the place of sanctuary. Please get in touch with us if you would like to be involved in any way!