CHURCHGOERS in Witney can now sup pints as they pray after a community church set up home in a local pub.

Members of the Witney Community Church started holding monthly Sunday meetings at The Plough Inn in High Street, Witney after a successful first meeting in January.

Landlords, partners Nick Knott, 48, and Andrew Milligan, 30, have welcomed the church and serve bacon baps and cups of coffee to the congregation.

Mr Knott said: “It’s a great thing because it gets the community together.

“They are hoping a lot more people come along.

“They tried it a couple of Sundays ago and got 10 or 12 people along.”

He added: “I’ve never heard of it before. It’s great for Witney that these people are doing it.

“I’m not Christian. I wouldn’t go to a church but I might go along to that because it’s different.”

The church held a special carol service at the pub before Christmas when hymn sheets were handed out to churchgoers.

Mr Knott and Mr Milligan only took over as managers at The Plough, owned by Admiral Taverns, three months ago.

They pair, who have managed many pubs in different parts of the UK, are trying to encourage locals to come back to the pub with events such as karaoke, quiz nights and music jam sessions.

Church elder Derek West, 64, said: “We started thinking about doing pub church because it seemed to be a great place where people could chat. Often church meetings are fairly well governed so there’s not so much opportunity to chat, but pub church is very informal.

“We’re open for any questions and discussions and it’s very inclusive. We talk about life, death, everything in between and everything after.”

Mr West who lives with his wife Lesley, 63 in Witney, used to organise Witney music festival.

He got the idea for pub church whilst doing open mic nights, playing guitar and singing at venues in the town.

He now hopes to introduce music into the church in the form of guest singers.

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