Boiler Room communities
“A 24-7 Boiler Room is a Christ-centred community that practices a daily rhythm of prayer, study and celebration whilst caring actively for the poor and the lost.”
The first Boiler Room opened in Reading, UK, in September 2001, and for the first three years of its life, home was an old pub incorporating three semi-derelict apartments, a basement, and the old bar itself. The Reading Boiler Room community sustained a continual rhythm of prayer throughout its life. It also sought to nurture creativity. It received over two-hundred pilgrims from around the UK and the world. It worked extensively with and for the disadvantaged of the local community, building friendships with many marginalized young people, and receiving the recognition of local statutory bodies. This all came out of the place and context of prayer.
From this wild experiment, some exciting things emerged; A discipline of prayer developed. Many people visited with the Boiler Room community regularly, coming in week after week to seek God as part of a missional community. Prayers were answered. The Reading community still have two volumes full of testimonies to answered prayer. The poor and lost were reached. For example, 150 needy young people came in and spent time with the Boiler Room community each week. Most of them were not Christians. Local Government recognised the effectiveness of what was going on, seeking partnership and funded projects.
The Reading Boiler Room eventually closed in 2005. The shockwaves from this dynamic experiment in monastic community life, however, have continued to ripple out ever since… and new and emerging Boiler Room communities have been established all over the world.
To help establish these new Boiler Room communities on stable foundations, the 24-7 Prayer International team developed a ‘Boiler Room Rule’, a rhythm of life wrapped around the six Boiler Room community practices.
The Boiler Room Rule
(i) The Two Purposes A 24-7 Boiler Room exists to love God in prayer and to love its neighbours in practice. These purposes are contextualised in community and expressed in a defined location.
(ii) The Three Principles At the heart of every Boiler Room is a living community committed to being:
1. Authentic: True to Christ.
2. Relational: Kind to People.
3. Missional: Taking the Gospel to the World.
(iii) The Six Practices Every Boiler Room Community applies these three principles practically through six core activities:
A Boiler Room is true to Christ by being:
• A prayerful community practicing a daily rhythm of which includes all kinds of prayers on all occasions.
• A creative community where artistic expressions of prayer and worship may take the form of art, sculpture, new music, poetry, dance, fun and a celebratory lifestyle.
A Boiler Room is kind to people by being:
• A just and merciful community where the practical needs of the local poor are met and where liberation is championed.
• A hospitable community where pilgrims are welcomed, meals are shared and where friendships can flourish across boundaries of race and culture.
A Boiler Room is committed to taking the gospel to the world by being:
• A missional community existing for incarnation and proclamation of the gospel to all people. To act as well as to pray.
• A learning community of training and discipleship, where people are growing in their faith, their life-skills and their ability to lead.
Boiler Room communities in the UK
Currently, there are four Boiler Room communities in the UK, in Wandsworth, Colchester, Guildford and Stanford-le-Hope. (Click on the tabs below to find out more about each of these.) And there are a few other communities who are exploring the journey towards becoming a Boiler Room community.
To find out more about Boiler Room communities, we would recommend that you;
a) visit the Communities web-pages on the 24-7 International website
b) download the Boiler Room Rule and have a good read through, perhaps with some friends
c) read Andy Freeman’s book, ‘Punk Monk’, which tells the story of the Reading Boiler Room community, and explores the six Boiler Room practices in detail
d) come along to the next Boiler Room Unpacked Day – hopefully there will be one that you can participate in soon
e) if you can, visit one of the existing Boiler Room communities. Please bear in mind that they all receive a high number of visiting pilgrims throughout the year, whilst also continuing with their local activities. And some have very limited available bed-spaces, if you need somewhere to stay.
Boiler Room Unpacked Days
Every few months, the UK Communities Team host a Boiler Room Unpacked Day, for around 30 participants. These Days are an interactive mixture of story-telling and teaching, question-and-answer time and conversation, with input from UK Boiler Room community leaders and other practitioners. At the last one, which we hosted in Reading, sessions included;
• the six Boiler Room practices
• being Christ-centred
• developing rhythms of life
• learning styles and making disciples
To register for more information about upcoming Boiler Room Unpacked Days, please contact the 24-7 Prayer UK Communities Team at: uk@24-7prayer.com
24-7 Communities
Sustained prayer often generates fresh vision and deep friendships. In many cases, 24-7 prayer rooms have evolved into ongoing expressions of community, gathered around the broader 24-7 vision and values. Likewise, in some pioneer missionary situations, teams have established small 24-7 communities, perhaps with a vision to grow a team into a Boiler Room community. As far as possible, we support and encourage these models, recognizing that these groups are similar to Boiler Rooms and some may develop in that direction. At this formative stage, somewhere between a one-off prayer room and a licensed Boiler Room community, we sometimes describe these groups as 24-7 Prayer communities.
A 24-7 community is a group of people in a local area who have a desire to express the six practices around a rhythm of daily prayer and weeks of 24-7. They are often small, full of faith and vision, and grateful for encouragement… which 24-7 Prayer is delighted to offer! One of the ways that these smaller communities can develop their rhythms of life as a community, as well as their connection with 24-7 Prayer, is by doing one of the 24-7 Virtual [link to page] courses together, which are designed for local groups.
Currently, we are walking this ‘community’ journey with friends in Gloucester and Reading, the Shetland Islands and Aberystwyth, Romford and Earl’s Court, to mention just a few!
UK Network Days
Twice a year, the 24-7 Prayer UK family gathers for what we call a ‘Network Day’. These Days are for leaders, for those who are carrying and shaping and influencing what 24-7 Prayer is in the UK in some way… UK teams and volunteers, students and interns, Boiler Room community leaders and smaller community teams, key leaders in particular arenas, administrative staff and Trustees, web-designers and journalists, plus some friends that 24-7 has ‘adopted’ from other Christian organisations. It’s just great fun to all be together!
We make space during the Day to pray together and worship Jesus, to listen to one anothers stories, explore new opportunities, discuss big questions and challenges, receive encouragement and fresh envisioning, and (most importantly) to eat and drink together. In fact, we devote a full third of the Day to sharing lunch together – we do this because we value our friendships highly, and these Days are a rare opportunity to catch up with old friends, and to welcome some new ones.
The word ‘companion’ comes from the root words, ‘com’ and ‘panis’, which literally mean ‘with-bread’. As we break bread together, we who are many become com-panis together, companions… companions of the heart, together for Jesus sake, and for his Kingdom.
