This is a Guest Post by Sam Mahlstadt.
A couple weeks ago, Winston-Salem had quite a freak snow storm, at least by North Carolina standards. The result was our church’s trailer, full of our equipment – stuck in a storage facility by the snow and ice.
Enter the advantage of being a small, mobile, flexible church: We went to Starbucks.
We honestly only expected a couple people to show up. After all, we weren’t having “church” and didn’t think people would respond. Wrong. Over 30 people crammed into the Starbucks, including a couple first-time guests.
And the most shocking thing? The guests knew we weren’t having a service. This was eye opening to me, and I think speaks to the nature of our corporate gatherings. Let me say this before I proceed: I love a good corporate gathering, worshiping together, hearing a sermon (and/or giving a sermon). I love it all.
Here’s the thing though. Something happened…
One guy made the comment at Starbucks, “this was great, I love talking to people.”
Yes, we allow talking at our weekend gatherings. Yes, we encourage people to connect, and we make space for it. But, people who have ever come in contact with, or even heard of church, have a mindset that they are there to observe. Passively. And people aren’t just passive by nature, but we lead people to be passive by producing a good show. You watch a show.
Over a cup of coffee, crammed in a Starbucks, all church growth principles go out the window. We encouraged people to meet someone they haven’t talked to before, and share what’s going on in each others lives. That’s about all the control you can have in that type of setting. And that’s all it took.
I talked to a girl who goes to our church regularly who had just gotten accepted into college the day before, and had the opportunity to celebrate with her. I would have never known that otherwise. Some things can’t happen during a “church” service.
It proved to be one of our coolest Sundays to date.
Scrap the weekend gathering? No. Hold random church services off site? Maybe. Probably not.
Create environments where community can begin, grow and thrive? YES!
We, as people who follow Jesus, have to acknowledge that some things can happen over a coffee, latte, doppio espresso or chai tea that simply cannot happen while people are watching a production and listening to one person talk.
[Image from Betsy]
stephenbateman says
Nice sam, thanks for the story.
My church at home (as opposed to @college) is small, which is kind of an advantage…It makes things like this possible, but we still aren't doing it…
Maybe a week at starbucks would be a good idea.
human3rror says
starbucks ftw!
Adam Lehman says
In our student ministry, we have a weekly, recurring gathering at Taco Bell.
We just hang out, but I've communicated with leaders over and over to really push the envelope in conversations with students and dig into their lives.
The results: I'd rather cut our Sunday night gathering/teaching time from the schedule that this Taco Bell hang out time. More depth and authentic relationship has flowed from sharing taco's than anything else. It sound like something only a youth ministry could do, but I think adults – if they take a second to breath – would realize that they're invigorated by the same thing.
human3rror says
That sounds awesome!
John
Jim says
i've done that before…students were more apt to hang out at burger king than listen to a guest speaker
Sam Mahlstadt says
I love it! Aaaaand, with the new Taco Bell craze, it's a win-win! 🙂
schellack says
I don’t know of many churches that still do potlucks on a recurring basis, but I’m pretty sure that’s the point. Maybe we should start doing that again?
human3rror says
I did those… Wow. Good times.
John
Jim says
I loved this article and it's one of the reasons that i'm looking forward to a local meeting of Digital Disciples coming soon where we can sit over coffee and talk-offline…
Vin Thomas says
So awesome. Having been a part of a couple church plants, I know first hand that the small intimate times are often much more powerful than the huge productions.
I guess there is something to be said for both. Gotta love me a good potluck though 🙂
Sam Mahlstadt says
Very much so, I am definitely not anti-growth. We just need to get better at facilitating community, even if we get big. Intimacy among people should always remain within the goal in the growth strategy.
Church Marketing TV says
Yeah, this was very cool. But the coolest thing is that it was NATURAL. Not planned.
Once someone starts writing a book and teaching on "Church community and growth via coffee shops" – that's when it will get cheesy and sound like a gimmick.
human3rror says
I'll write it. 😉
John
Sam Mahlstadt says
Ill read it! 🙂
bondChristian says
Yes, my local congregation had a couple weeks when we were in the middle of transitioning into a new set of chairs. For a those weeks in the middle, we didn't have any chairs, so we had everyone bring lawn chairs and such. The response was amazing. I think we seriously underestimate the power of switching things up… particularly if the switch makes things more interactive and down to earth.
Great guest post. Thank you.
-Marshall Jones Jr.
Sam Mahlstadt says
switching things up can generate massive momentum. The unexpected can be a powerful thing.
gphintz says
Great Article! Carries deep truth to the yearning of community amongst believers. I'm a church planter and launching http://www.theplaceaz.com in February and our plant team talks about this a lot. We're meeting tomorrow and I'm going to share this blog. It really makes ya think!
Thanks,
GP
gphintz says
Great Article! Carries deep truth to the yearning of community amongst believers. I'm a church planter and launching http://www.theplaceaz.com in February and our plant team talks about this a lot. We're meeting tomorrow and I'm going to share this blog. It really makes ya think!
Thanks,
GP
Kyle Gilbert says
Very cool story! Thanks for sharing that.
Nate Beaird says
I loved it, and because I know you and your heart, I can imagine how genuinely excited you were to make those connections! Something different is always needed, and I agree with "Church Marketing TV"… It wont work if you force it. Great Post, Sam!
Sam Mahlstadt says
Indeed, you can never force community – unfortunately, I forget that lesson pretty regularly. It takes moments like these to remind me. Thanks Nate!
dewde says
This is why so many of the environments at our church (http://northpoint.org) look like living rooms and not classrooms. The High School area looks more like a hangout place than a church. We have miniature "living rooms" and "coffee shops" every other corner you turn.
It's not to look cool or hip or make smaller churches jealous (after all… they can do the same thing!). It's to leverage/borrow/steal from the relational collateral that already exists within these types of environments.
peace | dewde
Sam Mahlstadt says
Perfect! That is something that I love about Northpoint's mentality of creating familiar, comfortable spaces. Truly setting a great example as far as facilitating involvement and relationships.
Oscar Alaniz says
I also have a weekly meeting in a Starbucks to study God’s Word! It is great to be able to study in a more relaxed place!
John Saddington says
that’s really cool!
SamMahlstadt says
Very cool. Being in a relaxed, familiar environment helps people to open up.