Bluebells Retro Gaming

Retro Gaming at St Mary’s Walthamstow

26 July 2024

During April St Mary’s Church in Walthamstow was home to a retro gaming event which saw the local community come together to enjoy their favourite video games on consoles old and new.

Retro Gaming

With consoles ranging from the original Atari to a Spectrum +2&3 to a NES to a PS5... and everything in between, there was something for everyone!

The retro gaming events, organised by The Revd Alan Moss, Associate Priest, have been held at St Mary’s since April 2022. They are a regular feature of the Church’s activity programme during school holidays.

The free events often see around 400 families attend who have fun playing the likes of Mario Kart and Sonic on big screens in church. They are also an opportunity to build relationships and have conversations with those in the local community who may not usually come to church.

Talking about the retro gaming events, Alan said: “I have been running these retro gaming days for several years across London and Essex.

"Sometimes hundreds of people come along and sometimes just a few but every time is worth it. Its success is not in the numbers but in the heart of what it aims to do, bringing families and communities together around a common joy... this opens hearts.

“The retro gaming days are for the whole community, poor or rich, broken or fixed, whoever stumbles in, and I love doing them.

“The point is always about drawing community together and building connections by simply creating space. Be it a space for gaming, hot chocolate, laughter, or even just a space to chat and be listened to.

“Whatever we have and whatever we are passionate about we can use to love our neighbours... sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t but trying new things and taking risks is always worth the effort.”

Look out for details of the next retro gaming event on the St Mary’s Church website.

This article was originally featured in our quaterly prayer diary, WePray.