Holy Spirit flows in former pub

How many churches do you know that began life in the worst pub in town? Yet it was in this unlikely setting that the seeds for Rediscover Crediton were sown – and from them a church is beginning to blossom. Chris Rolfe reports.

Steve and Joy Dunne hadn’t planned to plant a church in a pub.

In fact, they hadn’t been planning to plant at all.

They were between churches and had been reading Jim Cymbala’s Fresh Winds, Fresh Fire about the power of prayer.

As they read, they sensed God calling them to pray for Crediton, a town ten miles away from where they were living. They should pray in Crediton itself, God directed, so they asked him where.

As Joy walked down Crediton high street, a very unexpected answer came.

“Outside the worst pub in town was a notice that said, ‘Looking for a venue for your event? Why not try here?’” she says.

Up for the adventure, Steve, Joy and two friends headed there for a drink.

The right place

“It was not the most upmarket pub – a sticky pub with sticky tables – yet we knew it was the right place.”

And so, Steve and Joy found themselves holding their first prayer meeting for Crediton in the pub’s skittle alley on a freezing night in January 2009. Eventually, the group relocated to a nursery. Swapping bar stools for toddler chairs, their numbers grew to around 30.

story continues …