‘This Is about Welcoming Everyone’: Church Implements Unconventional Plan to Reach Community

In an effort to reach more people for Christ, a British church in Kent plans to implement a most unusual plan.

Although everyone is welcome at the 900-year-old Rochester Cathedral, the church wants to emphasize this point by facilitating several activities you wouldn’t often find in a church, including a mini-golf course, a fifty-foot tall helter-skelter, and a gin and prosecco festival in a neighboring city.

“We hope that when people come in, they will know that they’re welcome and they will have an enjoyable experience,” Reverend Rachel Phillips told Premier News. “So while people are here, having fun and playing crazy gold, they will take the opportunity to reflect on the wider theme of building bridges that they might find that they would like to pray, light a candle. Maybe talk to somebody.”

Paid for by a local charity, the carnival-type activities are intended to get the local community’s attention and introduce them to Christ. The Church of England, according to Kent Online, said it was “very supportive of any initiative which makes buildings more accessible,” especially in light of the 20 percent decline the Rochester Cathedral has experienced in the past decade.

“This is about welcoming everyone into the cathedral, letting people know that we’re here,” Phillip said. “We’re open. It’s free to come in and…