Editorial Note: I wrote the article below in 2004 when I was called to start a new congregation. I believe now, as I did then, that this is a workable model, and have actually seen it done by multi-site congregations and church planters. As I have been working on St. Paul UMC's strategic plan for the next five years, I can't help but wonder if its time...
The Bridge Café: Church
as Coffee House
The Cultural Picture
When was the last time you were in a
Barnes and Nobles bookstore? Today’s bookstore coffee houses are fast becoming
semi-holy gathering places. Their proprietors, informed by extensive market research
and cultural studies, have mastered the art of combining retail sales with
vibrant, postmodern experiences. They have moved beyond the days of dimly lit,
dusty bookstores and cramped booths in coffee shops into a brave new world
where what is sold is the experience, not just the product. What distinguishes
them from other “normal” bookstores? They are providing an experience that
embraces all of the senses. Once you enter the store you are surrounded with
the smells of hot, strong coffee, teas and pastries. The tables are usually
crowded with people delving into the mysteries of the universe, poetry and
surfing the Internet on their open wireless network. There are clusters of two
or three tables with people bantering over the problems of the world or
building interpersonal relationships. It is a place of weekly gatherings by
people with similar interests ranging from Buddhism to Dungeons and Dragons.
They are seeking to create an environment that meets the culture. They are
creating what sociologists call a “third place.”
Creating an environment that meets
the culture includes gathering around the table, sharing, giving and receiving,
learning, reading and studying. That is the goal of The Bridge Café. We desire
to create environments that meet the culture where the culture resides rather
than attempting to make the culture conform to our understandings and customs.
This follows the pattern set by Jesus who taught fishermen by the seashore with
metaphors of fishing and farmers in the fields while speaking of great harvests
that need workers and wheat falling to the ground and dying in order to
multiply. For too long the Church has struggled to reach a spiritually hungry
community because it attempts for force them into our box rather than engaging
them where they live and breathe and have their being. From this desire to
reach the culture and make connections comes the vision for The Bridge Café.
The Vision
Bridge Café will be a place where
the gospel meets the world, not in a combative sense, but rather in a holistic
sense. It will be a place of tables and conversations, of studying and reading,
of giving and receiving. The Bridge Café will host poets and artists, thinkers
and theologians all who come for dialogue and to gain a deeper understanding of
spiritual disciplines, worship and God. It will be a place of worship and
music, of gathering and caring. The Bridge Café will be a place of community
for those who might never darken the doors of a traditional church.
The Bridge Café will be a
functional, non-profit café, performing arts, and conversation venue serving
delicious gourmet coffee, freshly baked pasties from local bakers, and
displaying art from artists who struggle with spiritual issues based in the
orthodox teachings of the Church. The proceeds, after operating costs are
covered, will be divided into thirds. One third to the host congregation, St.
Paul United Methodist Church to be used for its ministry and mission, one third
to local ministries supported and sponsored by the Bridge Café that alleviate
suffering and advocate for “the least of these, my children” including The
Bridge Project, and one third to world mission initiatives to be determined by
the local board of directors. As an independent 501.3c non-profit corporation
it will also be used as an incubator to employ local members of the community
and train them in business practices. There will be space that may be used as a
teaching venue for various organizations in the community to allow them to
promote personal responsibility and foster greater interpersonal awareness. The
hope is that the Bridge Café becomes not just a place to gather and consume,
but a mission outpost from which to launch ideas and ministries to improve the
fate of those less fortunate in the community.
