The Revd Mary Rolls. Area Dean of Mowbray and and 20-40s Minister at Thirsk, speaks about the ministry of the wellbeing café at St Mary’s, Thirsk. She writes:
At St Mary’s, we partner with the Renew Wellbeing charity to offer a weekly wellbeing café for those in need of a space in which ‘it’s ok not to be ok’. The café has morphed in the year we’ve been running it into a warm space soup lunch, always with prayer.
It’s attracted new people, two of whom have come to faith, plus an extra one as a result of the testimony of one of the first two – Praise God!
The cafe has also been a great way to offer hospitality on a Tuesday afternoon to tourists. We are just up the road from the James Herriot museum in Thirsk, and welcome 7,500 visitors from all over to church through our Welcome Ministry over the spring and summer months.
Many have stopped for a cuppa and chat or joined us for soup lunch, appreciating the fellowship. The café has not in any way been a fundraising initiative, but it’s surprising and humbling how generously people respond to something offered for free!
