Like many large cities, Manchester, England has seen exponential growth in the number of young adults living in the city center. The Church of England, noticing that trend, knew that these new residents would be unlikely to attend the existing churches, so as part of their Fresh Expressions program they employed Ben Edson to find a new way to introduce them to the gospel. Ben and a handful of friends began to meet regularly to find a strategy for reaching people who think of themselves as spiritually open but who would never think they could find what they are looking for in church.

As a first step they opened the Nexus Arts Café. Originally it was a place for young adults to drop in after the pubs and night clubs closed. The purpose shifted since then, but the target population has not. Nexus is a quiet, sophisticated coffee shop open 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. The walls are covered with works of local artists.

A small faith community has formed among those who created Nexus. On Wednesday nights the fellowship sponsors an outreach event that is low-key and conversational. Sundays the circle of friends meets for worship.

They call themselves a church. In England there are several café churches, where the organizing principle is a commercially operated café. It’s an ideal setting for introducing Christian community, and gradually, Christian faith, to those who stop in.