I had a great and interesting experience over the weekend. Before the residential started, Jeremy (a friend on the course from Southwark) went on a hunt for a pub in which we could watch the football on Saturday afternoon.

We found the Royal Oak. This is a real old fashioned pub, boisterous but friendly locals with a need for a firm landlord and bouncers on the door on a Saturday night.

Jeremy and I had a ‘swift half’ at about 630 before rushing back to Herne Bay Court for dinner at 7. After lectures we returned with a few more colleagues. The place was alive and kicking. People shouting at each other, seemingly mis-treating each other, but also a clear and honest love and respect for each other. ‘Come over here you fat ****’ was a term of endearment, as it would be in many Gillingham pubs! A big question hit the group we were there with.

How can we be church, how can we be missional, amongst real people in places like the Royal Oak. People who were obviously incredibly different to those on the course? There is a massive gap on the training course – and the level of ‘uncomfortableness’ of our middle class group sitting in a rowdy, boozey, swearing and blinding, smokey, noisy pub was clear and evident for all to see.

For many this was an uncomfortable experience. I don’t think many will return. (In fact 3 of us did the next day to watch the football and we had a great time in an even rowdier environment than the night before. The reality of the situation is that we felt fairly , although not entirely, comfortable in the place – and that is not a judgment statement against others as we are called to minister in different environments. God calls us all to work in situations and locations where our gifts are best suited. He has ordained the situations for us to work within.

I have a problem with this. Where are the people who are called to work in the hard gritty pubs of our nation. Where are the these missioners being trained? Why is there a lack of them? Are they deaf to the call of God? Do they try but get knocked back because they do not fit and make us feel uncomfortable?

It seems to me that if the church of England wishes to do what is says it wishes to do, to be a missional church in the 21st century, then it really needs to start with some practical stuff and look at how it trains, who it trains, and why it trains, when it trains, if it should train ….

I don’t know any of the answers. I am speaking from complete naivety; I merely see the gap and long for the gaps to start to be addressed.