This is a Guest Post by Sam Mahlstadt.
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.
