Meeting in Ikea today (for the 99p cooked breakfast – what’s not to like?) reminded me that a few days ago on the Walking Tours I met one of the key people behind the recent Ikea refit.

I wish I could tell you his name, but it was complicated and German and so (as with all complicated names) left my brain approx 0.2 seconds after entering it.  What I can tell you is that he was friendly, enthusiastic, really enjoying his time in Belfast, and living for 6 weeks in the Arc apartments in the Titanic Quarter.  Apparently Ikea send him to all different parts of its empire – he’s off to Dublin next, then to Milton Keynes, then anywhere in Europe – to oversee the remodelling of their store whenever a new interior display is needed.

Chatting to Frzgrbbllj (let’s call him Frzgrbbllj for the sake of argument) made me think about the incredible opportunities open to The Dock – and the need to think seriously about what this ‘Chaplaincy’ role looks like.  Most local churches operate on the assumption that the people they connect with have moved into the area and will be around for a few years, or decades, or the rest of their lives.  The Dibley cliche is of a church community made up of people who have always been local, and will always be local.

The Titanic Quarter community seems to be different.  Frzgrbbllj was there for 6 weeks.  Many business contracts down in the Science Park are for a few months, many Citibank contracts are for a year.  The movie studios are operational for a couple of months at a time (the next series of Game Of Thrones is due to start shooting any day).  The Metropolitan College students will be connecting with the TQ for a brief window of their lives.  And many millions will be visiting for just one day – to see Titanic Belfast, visit the Pump House, check out the Public Records Office or (if they know what’s good for them) do the Titanic Walking Tour.

That doesn’t for one minute mean that the TQ can’t be a genuine community.  We all long to connect, to relate.  I’m loving the brilliant, genuine, inspiring people I’m meeting on the walking tours, or over a glass of mulled wine or a cup of coffee at the Meet The Neighbours events.  The chat is mighty.  I’ve met people from all over the world – and new people from just down the road.  It doesn’t look like a traditional community, where everyone knows each other, but it is a tremendously invigorating, urban, diverse way to connect.  Whether briefly or not, we share the fact that we’re part of this new part of Belfast city, that we’re watching renewal in action, that we have a common link to the Boat that Sank.  We’re the Titanic Tribe.

And it’s in that environment that the idea of being a Chaplain rather than a Minister or Pastor or Vicar seems to work so well.  Someone to make the links, to start the conversation, to put the kettle on.  Tribes need connection points.  Something like, I don’t know, a lovely old boat with a coffee shop run by Chaplains from all sorts of different backgrounds…  Hey, there’s an idea…