THIS is the husband and wife team behind a new alternative worship concept

Kev and Nicky Pybus prepare for their Advent installations with this projection of a Wordle of the Nativity story

Kev Pybus, 39, and his wife Nicky, 35, will launch ‘Or?’ at St Cuthbert’s Church, Copnor, with a series of installations during Advent. They will place a different, thought-provoking image inside a gazebo in the church every day from December 1 until Christmas Eve.

Then in the New Year they will start a regular series of ‘Or?’ worship events. They will happen at St Cuthbert’s on the evening of the third Sunday of each month, starting on January 19th.

They hope both the daily Advent images and the monthly worship events will create a space where people can encounter God in their own way, at their own pace.

The special series for Advent will involve a new, thought-provoking image being unveiled each day. The images will link an aspect of the traditional Christmas story to something from today’s culture. Every Sunday during December, all seven of that week’s images will be on display for those who come to St Cuthbert’s Church.

The couple, who have two children and live in nearby Chasewater Avenue, also plan to move house during the first week of December – but will still organise a series of images to be unveiled in church each day that week. They’ll also post them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

And the monthly ‘Or?’ events will use creative, thought-provoking, interactive, multi-media worship stations. That might involve traditional Christian symbols such as candles, incense or icons, as well as images projected onto walls, ambient music, and atmospheric lighting. Some prayer stations might use flowing water, pebbles or sand to help the worshipper reflect.

It aims to be a ‘church for the unchurched’ and attract those on the fringes or those who never go to church, by offering space to worship God in a completely different way.

The name suggests an alternative to traditional worship which might meet people’s spiritual needs. But it will also challenge them to make lifestyle choices so they can promote social justice in our world.

“We had the idea at the church camp during the summer,” said Nicky. “We had planned some craft and worship activities that involved using tea lights and post-it notes. People wrote down what they were worried about, and then we prayed about those things and burnt the paper. It was actually really powerful.

“Having also experienced alternative worship at a different church, it set us thinking about whether we could do this regularly. Kev and I presented the idea to our Parochial Church Council and they backed us 100 per cent.

“It will be different every time, but we hope it will be a place where people can be creative, express their worship in a new way, share their experiences and learn from others. Each month there will be a different theme, and the stations will reflect that in different ways. People will be free to spend as long as they like at each one, and there will be proper coffee and home-made cake too.”

And Kev said: “There are people who are interested in God, but traditional Sunday services are not their thing. St Cuthbert’s wanted to be engaging more with those in their 20s and 30s anyway, and this might be more helpful for that age group.

“The Advent stations aim to use aspects of the Christmas story to help us reflect on modern society. There’ll be a different picture every day, and the church will be open so people can pop in at any time.

“When we are doing this regularly, we will be emphasising that this is church – it’s not a stepping stone to a mainstream Sunday service. We will connect weekly with those who come via social media to keep them engaged between events and to feed their ideas into the planning of future sessions. After a while, the community who come regularly will be encouraged to help create those sessions, and deepen their faith that way.

“It’s great being able to do this as husband and wife. When we first thought of it, it consumed our lives for a couple of weeks. But it does mean we can talk ideas through whenever we like. We’re not doing this on our own – we have a great team of people to help make this new a success.”

For more information, see www.facebook.com/or.alternativeworship or  www.twitter.com/orAltWorship