God Tent proves a hit at festival

The God Tent exists to show a 'different face of the church'

Nestled amongst the music and revelry at the V Festival, the God Tent offered a Christian perspective to the weekend.

Organised by the local Anglican Parish Church of Widford, it has been a venue for relaxation and spiritual reflection at the event for the past 14 years.

"First and foremost we're hospitality, but we also want those kids out there to see a different face of the church," said one of its volunteers Lynne.

"We have a policy of not talking about faith unless someone asks a question."

"But what we find is youngsters have got this huge God-shaped hole and they are dying to know something," she added.

"If they don't go down our route, they go down the new age route or something like that, but they are looking for something.

"We get into some super conversation - quite often about dinosaurs and things."

As well as the God Tent situated in the middle of the festival site, the parishioners of St Mary's, which overlooks Hylands Park, provide cold drinks to the music fans as they head into the site.

Although there is no concrete evidence of the God Tent converting people towards Christianity, Lynne believed they provided a worthwhile service at the event.

"I think it's seed sowing - I can't say that anyone has actually said 'Yes, that's for me and I'm going to make commitment', that's never going to happen," she said.

"But it's stage one evangelism, we're giving a different place to the church and we do talk about Jesus.

"Jesus went out and met people where they were and that's what we're hoping to do here."