Watch Vanessa Elson explaining how the Moot Community has officially opened its Host Café below.
David Meara, the Archdeacon of London, opened the launch event. Church of England priest and presenter of BBC Two's 'Around the World in 80 Faiths', Peter Owen Jones, gave a short address on the theme of Caffeine for the Soul. He looked at 'How do we understand the needs of the soul today?'
He said,
The act of living is so much bigger in every dimension than we have realised. Living as a soul is about living a radical alternative life of gift, which means you feel the effects of yourself on others, and love is the greater of that experience of being. You can only communicate life by being love. The healing from status, the poverty of wealth, the loneliness of luxury, the impermanence of our physicality, but it is earthed in giving, and it is earthed in being.
Host is a new venture of the Moot Community, a fresh expression of church within the Church of England. It is the realisation of a long-held dream to enable those outside the church to build trust in it again and those inside the church to grow in the virtues of faith, hope and love, through the practice of hospitality and generosity.
Open from Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 4pm, Host serves direct-trade coffee, a range of loose leaf teas, pastries and cakes. Through Host, Moot is aiming to restore the St Mary Aldermary church building in Watling Street to its true vocation as a welcoming hub for the local community and a public space where friendships and connections can be developed.
As part of the weekly rhythm of worship and prayer, Host seeks to nurture body, mind and spirit in an expanding programme of arts, meditation, yoga and discussion groups. These currently include daily contemplative prayer, meditation, Serum spirituality discussions and Living the Questions dialogue group. The arts programme will include concerts, open mic performances, poetry and music.