Everyday Church

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts (Acts 2:46).
As Wales continues its spiritual descent into a post-Christian nation, the requirements of the early church that we read of in Acts seem more relevant for us today than ever. Outnumbered and often persecuted, the early church met every day to be equipped and encouraged so that they could share the gospel and accommodate the needs of discipleship to all those being added to their number.
The early church could not rely on cultural support as we once did in Wales. Until 1994, shops and businesses were closed on Sundays, allowing people to attend church. Those who worked during the week would be home for tea by 6 pm and able to go to a mid-week evening prayer meeting. Today, just like in the times of the early church, people have to work all the hours given to them and have many other ungodly distractions. This article asks the question: should our church schedule better reflect the changing needs of the communities we serve? Should we be more accessible throughout the week so the lost have more opportunity to learn about Jesus?
Come when they can
Noddfa Church is located in the North of Torfaen in one of the poorest Valleys in Wales. We have listened to our community and understand how much the working class is suffering, enduring long shifts in tough environments just to put food on the table. Despite their hard graft, many are in debt as their earning potential does not meet the rising costs of living. These people are lonely, exhausted and feel unrepresented. The church needs to become a place where they can feel listened to, loved and appreciated. Working shifts mean that these souls cannot meet the obligations of traditional service times, so Noddfa Church has created a model of fellowship that works for them.
Noddfa Church is open every day of the week offering a place of support and rest for hard-working people and their families. They come when they can and we seek to bless them without pressure. We do this trusting that when they meet with Jesus through our witness, they will be in a better position to make changes to their lives that will allow them to gather with us more regularly on the Lord’s Day. Until this time, ‘church’ for them may mean a Thursday night men’s meeting, a Tuesday morning Bible study, a chat in the local cafe, or a prayer walk around the coal slag.
I am overjoyed when I see a young man come straight to an evening meeting from work in his stinking overalls, boots caked in mud, carrying a greasy burger that he has had to buy on the way as he has not had time to go home for dinner. He is tired after a hard day’s work and desperate for a shower but wants to pray and worship Jesus with his church family. We may rarely see him on a Sunday morning because he works night shifts on weekends, but his heart is with us and he needs no encouragement to come when he can.
The church must not become a burden to such a man or woman. We need to value them and provide a place of rest that fits around their busy lives, like the early church, meeting day by day, breaking bread.
A place to come to each day
Serving the community daily also blesses those who are not at work, maybe through sickness, mental health, lack of opportunity, or retired pensioners. Many have become dependent on the benefit system. They are bored and crave purpose. Noddfa Church provides a place for them to come to each day. If nothing else it is a change of scenery where they are exposed to the gospel, loved and trusted; a social hub that distracts from negative influences.
We give people opportunities to volunteer and be respected for their labours. You do not need a theology degree to help with gardening or to make a cup of tea. Noddfa Church offers friendship, accountability and consistency to people’s lives, empowering those who are deemed unemployable by society to know that God has a plan for them. This is not the social gospel but a means to create opportunities for the gospel.
Such an approach is incredibly time-consuming for the church as it creates many small groups within the congregation that meet throughout the week to allow for a bespoke offering of fellowship. It is not convenient nor efficient, but we are not a business. We are a church that desires to practise what we preach and go the extra mile to show Christ’s call of redemption to the world. This should not be limited to a Sunday morning or a Wednesday evening.
The Lord is blessing this approach in our unique context, and I understand that your mission field may be different. I am sure that schedules are already packed out, and volunteers and resources can be tight. I am not calling for churches to be busy simply for the sake of being busy but to be accessible and mission-minded. How this will look in your context is something you must pray about.
The challenge
In reality, the culture is against us; there are many gods and idols that are taking the attention of our mission field. We cannot afford to be complacent and allow ourselves to get stuck in a rut of our traditional schedules. If more people can make a prayer meeting on a Tuesday night than a Wednesday night, we should consider moving it, or at least ask the question. The phrase, ‘But we have always done it this way!’ can be the death knell of a church.
If there is more passing trade outside your chapel building on a particular morning, why not open your doors then, have a big sign outside and invite people in for a coffee? Build relationships and share the gospel.
If someone in your church has a friend who would love to come to church and learn more about Jesus, but, for the time being, cannot make a Sunday Service, could you arrange a Bible Study on a different day just for them? If you start, their friends may come too.
These are the time sacrifices that I see the early church make in Acts when the culture was against them, and the Lord blessed them. The gospel is to be proclaimed, the Word is to be studied and bread is to be broken, not only with those who can conveniently fit around our schedule.