Holy Ground

One of my favourite Cafe Church events at Cotteridge was when we did 'Holy Ground' (November 2007). This was inspired by, and using some of the material from Paul Hobbs' "Holy Ground Project" sponsored by the Church Missionary Society. In the project Paul Hobbs collected shoes and stories from Christians around the world. Using God's words to Moses as a starting point "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground" (Exodus 3:5), people were invited to give their shoes and their stories. Hobbs comments: "For some the idea of giving up their shoes for this project seemed amusing and culturally odd. For others it was costly to give their only pair of shoes in exchange for another." However, the resulting collection of pictures and stories is certainly inspirational. We didn't invite people to donate shoes, but we did invite participants to remove their shoes and have their photographs alongside a brief faith story they had written. We also tried to make shoes (cardboard sandals etc.), walked barefoot on different surfaces, discussed memorable journeys and imagined being in Moses' shoes. Holy ground comes in all sorts of places and ways.