'SECULAR' EVENT - 'SACRED' BUILDING

Some people believe that to organise a concert featuring non-Christians in a church building is wrong and risks inviting God's wrath.

Others believe that there is no such thing as a sacred building, that God inhabits temples 'not made with hands' - your body and mine. If this is the case then the church building can be used for purposes other than Christian services.

What do you think?

At URBAN SOUL our passion is to meet and engage with people, real people. Yes we are driven by a Christian ethos, but we believe that the gospel is about renewing all things. That includes the economic and cultural aspects of the nation's life as well as the spiritual.


God is a creator, and if we are made in his image then we are creative and can only be complete when we express ourselves creatively. That might be through music, literature, art, or simply through conversation.


But interesting things are happening at URBAN SOUL. We're finding that some of Ireland's best musicians just want to perform here, and for meagre or no fees. Why is that?


Who knows? They don't know. They simply say, 'It's so different!'


I think the answer lies somewhere near the fact that URBAN SOUL is in the basement of an old city centre church in Belfast. A friend of mine, now an Anglican Bishop, visited the island of Iona. St Columba founded a monastery there in the sixth century, and as my friend set foot on the island he said he could sense the centuries of prayer that saturated every blade of grass.


The old church: May Street Presbyterian Church, has a rich heritage of prayer and committed servants of God. Maybe that's what outstanding musicians like Linley Hamilton, Mark McKnight and Blue Jar feel as they tread through hallowed cloisters into the basement of an old building, steeped in love, and preserved for even better times than its impressive history might suggest possible.


Drop by and see this fine old Georgian building, and while you're there, visit us at URBAN SOUL, but call us first. We'll be waiting for you, with cup of fine coffee. http://www.maystreetchurch.co.uk/