Coffeeshop Connections
What one pastor is learning, as a part-time barista, about relationship and discipleship.
David Swanson
October 1, 2006
I didn't intend to be a once-a-week barista at our local coffeeshop. It happened like this. One morning my wife was going into the local coffeeshop to interview for a very part-time job to help cover the cost of her return to college. Just before she walked out the door, without much forethought, I asked her to see if the owner would let me work one night a week with her. We were both surprised when he seemed to think this would be a good idea. Surprised, because I'd never met the owner, didn't drink coffee, and couldn't tell the difference between a latte and a cappuccino if its frothy mug was staring me in the face. Not surprisingly, after working there three years, I've learned a lot about coffee. Somewhat surprising are the connections I've observed between the coffeeshop and the local church where I'm a pastor. Spontaneity
Our church is a highly structured and very busy suburban environment where spontaneous interaction with friends rarely happens. Just getting together with some folks is an exercise in long-range planning! At the coffeeshop, however, I can count on bumping into someone who will be up for some conversation. It could be the Russian immigrant who is finishing up his computer science degree. Or the stay-at-home dad looking for some adult contact. Or a college student happy to be off-campus. Our church offers a lot of really good things for its members. But as the church grows, it's hard to maintain the spontaneity that characterizes smaller churches (and coffeeshops). If we believe the church community is the sum of its people, and if we believe that relationships are not something that can be programmed, then we do well to consider how to create margins in church life for spontaneous relational moments, similar ...
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