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Bridgewood: ‘A church for life’

July 29th, 2005 @ 7:58 pm by Rich | Share This | Comments: 2
Filed under: Assembly of God, Pentecostal, Religion, Random Miscellany
It’s great to see little churches doing effectively what the big churches are still trying to figure out: take a hint from Starbucks and Barnes & Noble, and start building community the way our culture responds to it.
Bridgewood: ‘A church for life’
Everyone is welcome to congregate before or after services in the cafe, which has a fireplace and cappuccino machine. The venue is so popular, members are already asking about expanding it and adding a yogurt machine for smoothies, Marquis said. “People just want to sit and talk with each other,” she said.

On the other hand, the Borg-like “Starbuxination” of church can be a little disturbing. My mom talked about visiting a church in Albuquerque, NM, where people were wandering around during the sermon to get coffee refills. When I wandered down the hallways of my home church, Calvary A/G, this last week, I noticed that the new coffeehouse in the newest part of our building is now open for business, and it was open for business just before services.

I’ll admit, I haven’t thought much about it, but somehow, it seems slightly disturbing to have a coffeehouse on the premises selling coffee. But, then, I thought about it some more and wondered why I don’t have a problem with churches selling tapes and CDs of the services. And little bookstories off the lobby? And then one of the associate pastors, Rev. Stuart Ross, assured me that the coffee itself was donated, and all the proceeds go to a missions ministry.

Still, something for me to think about.

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The machine does this. Your mileage may vary

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From: John B. Abela [Subscriber]
Posted: Tuesday, March 28, 2006 @ 7:37 am

Hey Rich,

Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life HappensI purchased the Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens book this morning and look foward to reading what it has to say. Have you had a chance to read this ??

John


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From: Rich [Admin]
Posted: Tuesday, March 28, 2006 @ 2:43 pm

I haven’t read it. CT republished this on their site about the book:

Cole, founder and executive director of Church Multiplication Associates (CMA) and author of Cultivating a life for God (ChurchSmart Resources), explains the construction of a new alternative with the Organic Church–a movement to a simpler kind of church. But he believes it’s more than just a preference, arguing that it’s an attempt at a purer expression of the church as Jesus meant it.

The Organic Church takes seriously Jesus’ strategy for church planting and multiplication from Matthew 10 and Luke 10. In other words, WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) as a church planter? Cole believes the method Jesus used in those two chapters 2,000 years ago should be used today. Instead of putting on a big event and expecting everyone to come, the Organic Church goes to where lost people are (homes, coffee shops, etc.), lives among them, and plants the church on their turf.

RevolutionSounds interesting in principle. It also sounds a lot like the Emergent dialog and some things Barna may have said in his recent book Revolution.

Rich.
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