BREAKFAST AT CHURCH

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21278, 3 September 1932, Page 3 (Supplement)

BREAKFAST AT CHURCH

NEW CUSTOM IN LONDON YOUNG CLERGYMAN'S IDEA MEALS THAT COST SEVENPENCE Seventy people sat down to breakfast at the John Keble Church at Mill Hill, London, on Sunday, July 17 after early service, and so inaugurated a new custom. Breakfast at church will be a regular thing at the John Keble in future. / This bold idea is one of the many by means of which the Rev. Owen GibbsSmith, a young man, formerly a master of Harrow School, is seeking to draw people to his church, and make them realise that religion is not gloomy, but a gay, attractive, living thing. /The story of Mr. Gibbs-Smith's ministry in this new area of Greater London has a rare qualby. He began , his mission in a canvas tent early in the year. In a few months he has worked to such purpose that he has not only stimulated his parishioners to enthusiastic voluntary endeavours on the church's behalf, but he has also given a new interpretation of religion to people hungry for its message. After service on July 17 the young priest led his little flock into a hall at the back, separated from the church by large folding doors painted in the prevailing blue. Here, at four large tables, they sat down to eat. No pleasanter breakfast room could be imagined. The room had the same main decoration as the church, and everywhere, on the windowsills, on the tables, and in every niche and corner were flowers. Most of them were wild flowers, plucked from the fields I adjoining. The tables seated twenty people each—fathers, mothers, children, young people—all cheerful and inspired bv the community spirit.

The tables were covered with the whitest of cloths and breakfast dishes, and at intervals along them were neatly written menu cards, also of light blue, ffhe menu was as follows: — Cold Ham. Bread and butter. Tomato Sauce. Marmalade. Boiled Eggs, Tea and Coffee. Contributions for this excellent meal Were assessed at sevenpence a head, but no charge was made for the meal, as anything that would turn the venture into a commercial enterprise is to be avoided. Contributions equal to the aclual cost of the food will be accepted. /All the work is voluntary. The keenspirited women of the parish have formed themselves into four teams of six each, and a team will take charge of all the breakfast arrangements each Sunday. I The cleaning of the church and the preparation of flowers are done by voluntary workers, all inspired by the enthusiasm, vision, and imagination of Mr. Gibbs-Smith. After breakfast, Mr. Gibbs-Smith lit 'a cigarette, and the men of his congregation, who had been waiting for this, sighed in Telia,' «— I L ■a-' "kewise. It was the per- » Sunday breakfast*