When Montbéliard Prairie Church expanded its building in 2017, it gained a space to reach out to the community outside of Sundays.

The congregation incorporated a large reception hall next to its old chapel that is now used as a cafe and bookstore on weekdays.

Prai’lude Café (Prelude Cafe) opened in 2021, inspired by the French congregation’s vision to serve God and the world by reaching out to people living in loneliness and spiritual distress. The cafe is intended to be a welcoming and warm place throughout the week for everyone, whatever their origin, faith, doubts or questions.

Profits are reinvested in the cafe, which is run by a handful of volunteers and a young person in civic service.

Patrons came mainly from Christian backgrounds at first, eventually joined by others. Music and game nights were organized to encourage this. The original goal was to reach students on Friday evenings, but in the end it was immigrants who took part.

They extend their French lessons, given at the cafe by volunteers on Friday afternoons, with activities allowing them to put into practice what they have learned. As immigrants often live in small apartments, the cafe is also a meeting place for larger groups.

People from the congregation have become accustomed to coming with work colleagues and their children in late afternoons after classes, taking advantage of kids’ amenities like a daycare area, table football and outdoor games while they chat over coffee or tea. Visitors sometimes leave with one of the free Bibles displayed at the entrance or an invitation to join a group of walkers from the congregation.

Others are surprised to find a cafe in a church and take advantage of the parking lot to stop and have a drink. One couple has become accustomed to coming at least three times a week to read the newspaper and discuss spiritual matters. A schoolgirl of Muslim origin, who finds no answer in her environment, comes to discuss Christianity, which intrigues and challenges her.

The cafe is open during events at the church, which loans its worship hall for concerts or other occasions. It is also a way of having contact with people who would not spontaneously set foot in a church.

When the feedback is, “We didn’t think it was like that, the Church,” we know we’ve hit the mark. A non-Christian friend who is involved in French lessons for migrants is always amazed that the cafe brings together so many people of different nationalities and exclaimed, “Your cafe is “the place to be in Montbéliard!”