COFFEE SHOP 

Introduction to the Coffee shop evangelizing program for the Faith Book online church.  This is a long-term community outreach to the secular world and focuses on coffee houses near the traditional church.

All the programs and events that are featured in the online church have a counter part in the traditional church and the community that the traditional church serves.

Let’s look at how that works with the Coffee Shop Evangelizing program

  • The objective of the Online Coffee House is to have meaningful but not complicated discussions and opinions about the Bible focusing on secular visitors.
  • The Online Coffee Shop provides a safe place where visitors who are not familiar with Christianity can come to gain more information about the Bible and Christianity in general.  It will have changing and unchanging topic areas in a Blog format.  It will also have a comment section where a visitor can ask questions.

 

 

  • The second part of the Coffee Shop program involves a traditional Coffee Shop. The first step in the use of the coffee shop is to make people aware of the online church community.  This includes Christians that frequent Starbucks as well as secular customers that use Starbucks.

The community coffee house is a program set up to work in a coffee house near the town the church is located in.  The local coffee house becomes a place where a church member can refer individuals to the online church community.  How it works:

    • A team of volunteers choose a coffee house location.  Two people meet once a week at a predetermined time say 4pm.  They stay for one hour.  During that time, they research content for the online coffee house and bring their Bibles.
    • Part of the time is spent in Bible study and part of their time on the content that they located online.
    • The team meets every week at the same time.

As customers become aware of the Evangelizing group some will be curious about what the group is doing and it will be an opportunity to tell them about a new concept in church online community that they are helping to build.  Customers at Starbucks can then be encouraged to visit the online coffee house.

 

OUTLINE OF A THREE-MONTH EVANGELIZING CAMPAIGN INVOLVING THE ONLINE COFFEE SHOP AND THE STARBUCKS COFFEE SHOP

The online Coffee shop will have a forum for the discussion of the Parables of Jesus. The forum will have comments from the team members as well as interested visitors.

Our nation is addicted to vicarious experience. Over the years I have been intrigued about the human experience we call the vicarious experience.

What does it mean to live vicariously? It means that we live our lives through other people. It is like this:  I don’t feel very successful but I know someone who is. I experience a certain pride or well-being when I am around their big house or standing next to their nice car.  I am not very happy but I know someone who is even if all they are is someone on television who I have never met and probably never will. We often call this “name dropping.” You have noticed it and maybe even said to yourself or out loud, “Quit dropping names.” Yet, we all do it. Sometimes it actually has some relevance to the discussion but most of the time it is making us feel good. And who doesn’t want to feel good? We live our lives through others.

You say, “So what?” Here is the problem: We used to create our own version of success or happiness and were content with it. When we live off the happiness or success of other people we are no longer investing in our own lives to bring happiness and success. We fritter our time away on various social media platforms, playing mindless games on our phones and texting people about what kind of coffee we like at Starbucks. Our continual absorption of media does not help because Madison Avenue advertising thrives on sowing the winter of our discontent, reminding us how unfulfilled our lives are without the newest car, the latest fashion shoes and the latest hot vacation spot.

We end up living meaningless lives. How do I know? When people do finally awaken to their lack of purpose and meaning they show up in my office for counseling or the offices of their friends. A few of them become so depressed they check themselves in to a psychiatric facility.

What is cure? First, a major shift in our thinking is required. Happiness and success are inside jobs. No one can make you happy. (Also no one can make you made.) Our feelings are our choice.

Second, all of the above is actually a spiritual diagnosis of our culture requiring a spiritual answer. We do all need Someone bigger than ourselves in our lives. I have seen the bumper sticker and so have you, “If you really knew me you wouldn’t love me.” God’s bumper sticker says, I know you perfectly and I love you perfectly.”

Ronald Friesen © 2018