What a fabulous night on Sunday night, as we gathered on board SS Nomadic for a bit of history in the making: the first ever baptism in the Titanic Quarter.

History in the making for the Dock Chaplains as well, as we had spent some time getting our heads together to figure out what a ‘Dock Baptism’ looks like – and so we came up with a service which included elements from all our different traditions. Little Lily was baptised not by any one tradition or denomination but by the team of Dock Chaplains, representing the new shared city we’re building.

And a great day for the great neighbours of the Abercorn Basin in Titanic Quarter. Amazing to think that a year or two ago, none of us knew each other… But there we were on Sunday, Lily (and her mum and dad Andy and Jenny) from the TQ Mace, the team of chaplains and volunteers from the Dock, and our great neighbours from SS Nomadic, all gathering together to celebrate a new life.

These are the building blocks of community… The little steps that suggest that Life In The Titanic Quarter isn’t just the slogan above the door of the Dock – It’s becoming a reality.

These things were still swirling in my mind when I was sent a link to an article by George Monbiot in today’s Guardian (so you may want to make yourself a cup of herbal tea and some mung beans before reading it.  Only joking, Guardian readers!  Keep your Birkenstocks on)

His article – The Age Of Loneliness Is Killing Us – is a warning siren about the way the modern world is making us more and more isolated – and doing immense damage in the process:

Three months ago we read that loneliness has become an epidemic among young adults. Now we learn that it is just as great an affliction of older people… Ebola is unlikely ever to kill as many people as this disease strikes down. Social isolation is as potent a cause of early death as smoking 15 cigarettes a day; loneliness, research suggests, is twice as deadly as obesity. Dementia, high blood pressure, alcoholism and accidents – all these, like depression, paranoia, anxiety and suicide, become more prevalent when connections are cut. We cannot cope alone.

It’s a brilliant, alarming piece and I encourage you to read it.

But what really struck me about the article is that someone (thanks Christine!) read it and straight away thought of The Dock, and got in touch to see if I’d read it. A potent reminder that in the middle of grinding coffee beans, preparing the pop-up picnic, manning the market and baptising babies, this is what we’re all about.

Loneliness is killing us. And in the Titanic Quarter, no-one has to be lonely any more. Neighbours are connecting. Community is growing. Chat and prayer and conversation and life are flourishing. The kettle is on.

What a fantastic night on Sunday night, celebrating just some of the thousands of ways in which DOCK Cafe is so much more than a coffee shop…

For example – a normal coffee shop doesn’t usually go out of its way to provide a ‘wee chat buddy’ to talk to anyone who is feeling that life is getting on top of them a bit.

Diane (that’s her on the left) introduced us to a new scheme which is launching this Friday (10th October), and which she can describe much better than I can:

The Wee Chat Buddy Project is the DOCK’s new support project.

A team of trained ‘chat buddy’ volunteers will be available daily in The DOCK Cafe for anyone needing a wee chat, support or a listening ear through the various life challenges that often lead to poor mental health. The buddies will help gain access to revelant specialist counselling.

We launch on Friday 10th October from 12am onwards to acknowledge World Mental Health Day and it will be attended by a few of our local mental health support organisations.

Our Wee Chat Buddy Co-ordinator Diane says:

“ANYTHING goes…. housing, suicide, self-harming, domestic abuse, alcohol, sexuality – you name it, we can hack it so don’t sit alone! For more info just contact me”.

You can contact Diane through the new Wee Chat Buddy page on the Dock website here

I’m so excited to welcome Diane to the team… The DOCK is founded on the principle that life (and especially Life in the Titanic Quarter) is lived better together… communities connecting, denominations co-operating, people reaching out and discovering that something as simple as a cup of great coffee and a good blether (or indeed a wee chat) can make all the difference in the world.

Since the first moment the doors opened on Dock Cafe, we’ve known that this place is a bit different.  In Starbucks, you don’t get to choose what you pay… you can’t bring in your own packed lunch… you don’t find a cosy Prayer Garden in the corner… you won’t be served by a smiling volunteer… the list is almost endless!

So this Sunday (5th Oct), our regular monthly service at 6pm in Dock Cafe is called ‘It Wouldn’t Happen In Starbucks’ – a chance to celebrate all the ways in which Dock Cafe is a wee bit amazing, and why it means so much more to us than just a coffee shop. We’ll be hearing from Judith and the Prayer Team, Diane and the Wee Chat Buddies scheme, Ross and the Pop-Up Picnic, and loads more!

Please note the venue! – We’re going to try continuing last month’s experiment of holding our Sunday Nights On Nomadic in Dock Cafe. I passionately advocated that we should officially re-christen the service Sunday Nights On Nomadic (Not On Nomadic), but for some strange reason I was outvoted.  What a weird world.

So our regular gatherings are now:

Sunday Nights at The Dock.
1st Sunday of every month
6pm in Dock Cafe.

Don’t miss it!

The title of ‘Dock Cafe’s most famous customer’ has been nabbed by an ecclesiastical invasion involving the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, along with the Archbishops of Dublin and Armagh… there was just a lot of clerical collars around quite frankly!

The Archbishes swept in like a hurricane, chatted to about 300000 people in 30 minutes, encouraged all and sundry, prayed in the Prayer Garden, and rounded off the visit by getting the Archbishop of Canterbury into a Dock apron to serve a cup of tea.  (I was responsible for his on-the-job training, and, well… it’s good that he’s really great at his day job)

A few pictures of the event from Jeremy at The Big Wooden Box:

[UPDATE: you can now see all the photos here]

Including one which is surely deserving of a Caption Competition:

Over to you!