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.

[tags]BlogRodent, Bridgewood, church, Christianity, faith, religion, Starbucks, seeker-sensitive, Stuart-Ross, coffee, mega-church[/tags]

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Rich Tatum