Another of My Facebook friends pointed me to the website of the congregation referenced in the article. It seems as though this particular effort is different from this one or even this one. First, their website, unlike the article, makes it clear that they are a church first. The Sacrament and Divine Service are clearly given a priority on the site, so I assume the same is true in their practice. The coffee and lounge area are set up at other times, perhaps like any other congregation. So for my implicit accusation that the Sacraments of Christ are diminished in favor of coffee, I repent.
The second difference I noticed on their website, for which I commend Holy Cross, is the offering of real Lutheran reference materials in their bookstore. They even promote Issues, Etc.
My perplexity remains, however, at why coffee is the new method to hook people onto the Church. Is it because it's mildly addictive?
The original post is below.
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It's almost like a bad joke. I've heard in Lutheran circles on several occasions that little riff that coffee is the third sacrament (or fourth or fifth, depending on how you number them). Lutherans love their coffee, and they love their coffee hour.* So, in a caffeine-crazed zeal for mission, the thought has permeated our churches that putting in a coffee shop is the premier way to reach out to those who so desperately need to hear the Gospel, with a side of mocha.
This trend came to my attention again in an article recently posted by one of my Facebook friends. "Storefront church: Holy Cross Lutheran offers coffee shop atmosphere." The article could be in reference to any number of Ablaze! (TM) funded shots at hooking an unsuspecting public on our particular brand of caffeine, then our particular brand of church, then our particular brand of Gospel. It seems as though if you want to do mission, coffee must be included.
Besides blatantly showing that the targeted demographic is suburban, white, upper-middle class, Gen-X (or Y) hipsters (the ones who hang out in these kind of places and who, coincidentally, stand the best chance of giving significant amounts of their money that they don't spend on coffee to a congregation who will spend it on coffee), the article itself reveals one of the particular problems about such a set-up.
The only restriction the church has, because of limited parking, is no weddings or funerals; those would be held at one of the other LCMS churches, he said.I'm sure it's only because of parking that no one wants to have their wedding or funeral in a place where the abrasive sound of steaming milk is heard more often than the singing of the Psalms. Coffee houses are for coffee, eating, reading, relaxing, surfing the web, reading this blog, and meeting with friends. They aren't for weddings and funerals.
So, tell me, what makes a coffee house appropriate for celebrating the wedding Feast of the Lamb and His Bride? What proclaims His death better, sipping on a latte or on His blood in the Supper? If this is truly contextual ministry, what kind of context is established by elevating your love of coffee not even to the level of sacrament, but above it? After all, you probably drink your daily cup of java, but daily (or even weekly) communion seems excessive.
Let's get back to Jesus' way of doing missions. It's not hard to figure out or to do. He tells us Himself in the plainest language: preach the Gospel, Baptize, Absolve, and feed the Lord's Supper. We only have to be prepared that most people will want nothing to do with that. Just like most people wanted nothing to do with Jesus while He walked the earth.
*Except my congregation. Coffee is seldom found at our functions. We actually just started a coffee hour this year, but it's not attended too heavily. They use pre-ground Maxwell house and our water is so hard that it comes out of the tap more like dampened limestone pebbles than anything resembling a liquid. That may have something to do with it.
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