Lately, I have been asking myself the very same question that I read in an article from ‘Faith & Leadership’: “Can we make our congregations as welcoming as a coffee shop?”
I think about my experiences, over the years, at ‘Coffee on The Moon,’ on the corner of Canda Avenue and 1st Street. I have always found it so interesting to observe the people and their reactions to artwork, their selections of seating, and to witness the joys of their experiences there.
‘Coffee on The Moon,’ is one of those local businesses that has cultivated a welcoming atmosphere.
Generally speaking, we often enter businesses where we immediately feel welcome. Immediately, we know what they “are about.” Leaving again, we will rate that business--often unconciously.
A sociologist might ask us, "Did you find a "Third Place"in that place of business, in that moment?"
The theory of the ‘Third Place’ comes from sociologist Ray Oldenburg.Oldenburg identifies our first place as our home. Then our second place is our workplace. He would also call us to find our “third place.”
Third placesanchor community life--facilitate and foster creative interaction. In other words, "your third place is where you relax in public, where you encounter familiar faces and make new acquaintances." (White, Rebekah (July–August 2018) New Zealand Geographic (152): 6.)
What is the secret for a successful business in creating a welcoming third place?
Howard Schultz (a former CEO of Starbucks) has written, “We are not in the coffee business, serving people. We are in the people business, serving coffee.”
These businesses are cultivating cultures of hospitality, care, and community--not just coffee beans!
We--in our churches--are often great at putting up banners and signs, proclaiming statements like, ‘All Are Welcome.’
As Churches, we say we want to welcome everyone, but do we really?
The fact is that Church-growth "gurus" have written, at length, about the "(Not So) Welcoming Church”. One of their test experiments has been to enter into the “test tube” of the coffee hour, and sit alone at a table, or stand off by themselves. The experiments are often failures.
Far too often, the experiments have indicated church cultures that are for insiders, and that do not welcome, outsiders.
Let's ask ourselves: What is our business, here at St. John's?
Are we truly living out our gospel message? Are we in the people business--serving up hospitality, care, and community? I wonder, do our visitors at St. John's leave thinking that they have discovered a “third place?” Do they discover a culture of hospitality, care, and community here?
Our church life needs to be a life with every act--big or small. It is not someone else’s job. It is everyone’s job.
Let's serve up a culture where people come through the door, and find their “third place.”
