Fraser and Cheriel from our evening congregation came up with a brilliant idea. Cheriel tells us all about it:
"About a month ago my husband and I ran a free pop-up cafe
in the centre of Reading to give people a public forum in which to discuss the
result of the EU referendum. It was the weekend after the referendum result,
and we had planned it for a week and put it on. We had been surprised and taken
aback by the Brexit vote, and were concerned by a few things in the immediate
aftermath:
1. Many Remain voters were angry and upset, and some
voices from the Leave side were protesting that they felt maligned and misrepresented
in the media 2. Everyone seemed to be talking about the referendum with their
family and friends, but there didn't seem to be any spaces for constructive
public discussion (and Facebook tends not to be the most constructive of
spaces) 3. Despite the almost 50/50 split of the vote, the vast majority of our
friends and family seemed to have voted the same way as us.
Put together, this seemed to suggest that the split of
the vote was not only driven by individual opinion, but also by a vast
difference in perception, both of what would be best for the nation and the
voters on the other side, and by social (and quite possibly economic)
differences.
This has been said a great deal since, but the referendum
highlighted some very profound divides in our country. We wanted to do
something that would strengthen civil society in our local community and enable
people to put a human face to the opinions and perceptions of the other side of
the vote. The wisdom of the Bible tells us that 'a soft answer turns away
wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger' (Proverbs 15:1) and that we should 'put
on the readiness given by the gospel of peace' (Ephesians 6:15). We wanted to
bring something of peace and hope at a time when it would have been easy to
respond in inflammatory ways.
We spent the week planning and praying for good weather,
begged and borrowed tables and camping chairs from Reading Family Church and
our friends, recruited other members of the church to help man the stall, and
filled out the necessary paperwork from the council. On the Saturday, we set
our gazebo, table and signs up on Broad Street in the morning and were
immediately in business. Lots of people stopped because they were intrigued by
the offer of free cake and homemade lemonade, and a good many stayed to chat.
While rain did put a damper on things for a little while, we estimate that by
the end of the day we had spoken to over 120 people and families.
We spoke to people on both sides of the vote, and tried
to encourage conversation. Many Remain voters spoke about a sense of
devastation and outrage, while Leave voters spoke about optimism and feeling
unfairly judged. On both sides there was apprehension about political
uncertainty ('The UK has no government'). We spoke to immigrants from Europe
who felt disappointed, unwelcome and angry. Wherever possible, we tried to
encourage the people we spoke with to consider what the vote said about society
and local communities in the UK, and what we could most productively do as
individuals and as a community moving forward. One of our friends, a Remain
voter, had a long conversation with a couple who had voted Leave about the
thought processes and motives that had led them to vote the way they did. They
came away with the realisation that, though they had chosen opposite sides of
the vote, they had very similar interests at heart.
While not all conversations resulted in that degree of
convergence, we found ourselves challenged and humbled by differences of
opinion in the people we met. The conversations we had helped us to consider
more deeply the importance of speaking our perception of truth lovingly in
public debate. We hope and believe (at least, from the feedback of others) that
many people came away from the pop-up cafe feeling a little more encouraged, a
little more understood, and a little more willing to seek a constructive,
diverse conversation. We all find it hard to be truly neutral about issues that
affect us deeply, but with a little loving work we could perhaps create a
society where we can deal with difference in ways that strengthen our
communities."
Reaching our town is not all about 'the church' centralising and doing outreach, it is about Christians who are the church taking the initiative and bringing the gospel through their own unique way. The bible is clear, 'Blessed are the peacemakers' and that's what Fraser and Cheriel and friends were doing that day being peacemakers.
