A church is preparing to offer more than a prayer and a pint when it starts to meet in a pub.

Members of St Leonard’s Church in Exeter are launching the initiative which will see regular Tuesday night meetings held at The Hourglass pub.

The Reverend Nick Gowers said the aim of St Leonard’s Unplugged was to invite more people to meet Jesus, but in

an environment that may be perceived by some to be more informal and more accessible than a Sunday church service.

He said: “Some people will ask, ‘Should we be meeting in a pub?’ But Jesus met people where they were, without joining people in their sin.

“We recognise that for some people the venue might be unhelpful or inappropriate, but we are trying to create an

environment that is both

distinctively Christian and as non-threatening and as easy as possible to invite friends to.”

The group behind the project says it wants people to imagine putting “a St Leonard’s church service, a home group, an evangelistic event and a pub into a blender” for sessions which will include drinks, a Bible reading, discussion and prayer.

“Our congregation is growing all the time,” said Mr Gowers. “But we can’t always wait for people to come to us.

“In our parish and beyond, there are far more people who don’t know Jesus than do.

“God did not wait, he sent his son to us on Earth to spread the Christian message and we now want to provide the opportunity for people to come to know Jesus.

“We also realise that Christians do not have a monopoly on Sunday any more.

“Sunday morning services will of course continue but more and people are facing a choice between Jesus and work, Jesus and sport, even Jesus and a lie-in, so we need to be available at a time which suits all people.”

St Leonard’s Unplugged will not become a separate church in its own right and the organisers hope it will be seen as another St Leonard’s congregation, albeit on a Tuesday.

“People can be part of this congregation and a Sunday congregation,” said Mr Gowers, the curate of St Leonard’s. “We do expect this to become the main congregation to some.