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A New Kind of Church
All of this got started when the truth hit me like a ton of bricks: we really don't have a coffee shop in Dover. Yeah there's a Coffee Beanery at the food court in the mall, but that isnt a cafe. Yes there are Starbucks at at least two grocery stores in town, but those aren't cafes. There is a place at lawyer central but I haven't been there yet... I think its a deli, but I'll give it a try.
And then the self-pity kicked in... Smyrna has two on Main Street. Milford has two on Main Street. Our town is like double the size of those two towns... what is up? Matt B tells me there used to be one in Dover, so what is our problem?!? We don't drink coffee? Where can I sit with a laptop or a book or some paper and just read... write... talk with people?
So I started to dream. I came full circle to the realization that a coffee shop is not really economically viable. I read a guy on Slate that says to break even you'd have to sell $500 a day in coffee AND work it yourself full time along with your parttime help. He couldn't do it in Manhattan, I don't think I could do it in Dover. That is a mess of coffee to unload per day.
But it got me thinking about church. The first church met in the upper room of someone's house. Acts 1 tells us that 120 of Jesus' followers met continually awaiting the gift of the Spirit. They hadn't bought their own building. They probably weren't even renting, the owner just let them hang out up there. No, I'm not advocating house church, but I think it is worth having a discussion of rethinking church methodology.
I'm just throwing this idea out there: how would you do church on Loockerman Street? What would it feel like? Think upper room. Convert the apartments on the second floor of a storefront into one large room for congregational gatherings. You'd plug it as "the Upper Room." The main floor storefront would be a coffeeshop, bookstore, whatever. Obviously the symbiotic relationship would defray the expenses related to being in that district. Additionally, you'd have the name recognition of the store when telling people about worship gatherings. Most importantly of all to ask: What kind of people would come to that kind of church? Why would that kind of person NOT come to a "normal" church?
I'm not suggesting that we stop doing "normal" church, I'm floating the idea of doing this new kind of church in addition.
Tomorrow? No way! Down the road? Why not. Really, I'm just asking the question...
And then the self-pity kicked in... Smyrna has two on Main Street. Milford has two on Main Street. Our town is like double the size of those two towns... what is up? Matt B tells me there used to be one in Dover, so what is our problem?!? We don't drink coffee? Where can I sit with a laptop or a book or some paper and just read... write... talk with people?
So I started to dream. I came full circle to the realization that a coffee shop is not really economically viable. I read a guy on Slate that says to break even you'd have to sell $500 a day in coffee AND work it yourself full time along with your parttime help. He couldn't do it in Manhattan, I don't think I could do it in Dover. That is a mess of coffee to unload per day.
But it got me thinking about church. The first church met in the upper room of someone's house. Acts 1 tells us that 120 of Jesus' followers met continually awaiting the gift of the Spirit. They hadn't bought their own building. They probably weren't even renting, the owner just let them hang out up there. No, I'm not advocating house church, but I think it is worth having a discussion of rethinking church methodology.
I'm just throwing this idea out there: how would you do church on Loockerman Street? What would it feel like? Think upper room. Convert the apartments on the second floor of a storefront into one large room for congregational gatherings. You'd plug it as "the Upper Room." The main floor storefront would be a coffeeshop, bookstore, whatever. Obviously the symbiotic relationship would defray the expenses related to being in that district. Additionally, you'd have the name recognition of the store when telling people about worship gatherings. Most importantly of all to ask: What kind of people would come to that kind of church? Why would that kind of person NOT come to a "normal" church?
I'm not suggesting that we stop doing "normal" church, I'm floating the idea of doing this new kind of church in addition.
Tomorrow? No way! Down the road? Why not. Really, I'm just asking the question...
Labels: Emerging Church, Just Some Thoughts
posted by Timothy Schmoyer | 7:08 PM
1 Comments:
The anti-coffee shop climate is my biggest pet peeve about Dover. I actually like this idea a lot. I'm tired of walking into traditional churches and feeling lost. It is an interesting dynamic to see the greater church transition from a community to empty hollow faces sitting in the pews, and that's what it seems like to me, that you're looking for a greater sense of community. Don't lose that.
In Christ,
Sean
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