Fuller-trained Huebner features a coffee shop at Gracechurch, once called Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church. First Veep Mueller quit The Love Shack, so does that make Huebner the First Veep by accession? Not really. They want to eliminate the position to save money and reduce Global Warming (greenhouse gas emissions).
Thus -
"The blend of progressive and classic, contemporary and traditional, along with a professional excellence in everything from our worship to our website has attracted hundreds of visitors and new members to Grace Church in recent years."
Gracechurch
"The congregation has been doubly blessed because of his expertise as a church consultant." [GJ - He told me he was trained at Fuller Seminary, along with Kelm and Larry Olson.]
SonicWall Network Eternal Security Appliance
Cost: $1765 (ALREADY CONTRIBUTED!)
A network security device/switch capable of protecting the internal church network from outside intruders, while providing antivirus, antispyware, and content filtering for the internal network. Also allows us to segment the public Internet access for the Coffee Lounge off from the rest of the church network.
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Harvest Community also features a coffee shop and small groups.
Reader:
"Harvest Community Church, south of the airport in Milwaukee, has a sign which boasts about serving Altera coffee. I didn't see anything about preaching Christ crucified. If you want to get cheeks in the seats, you gotta have that coffee shop atmosphere, don't ya know."
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mikemiller34 has left a new comment on your post "Churches Featuring Their Coffee Shops":
I'm a Grace member, but not necessarily an apologist. This morning's sermon was as Confessional Lutheran as I could have asked for--with Luther being quoted extensively. I don't know what the point of the coffeehouse is. It just seems like a huge financial boondoggle to me. That being said, I don't think drinking coffee in conjunction with church is necessarily evil. It's all adiaphora. I actually find Grace excessively stiff and formal. (By the way, thank you for your recent link.)
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GJ - I visited that sterile icehouse known as Willow Creek in my extensive research on Church Shrinkage. They had an expensive food court. Many find it odd that Lutheran churches just happen to be aping the CG sects by having gourmet coffee served - at Randy Hunter's franchise, while people rest on couches.
Huebner may pose as a Lutheran, but he has always been a Fuller Seminary activist. If he were a confessional Lutheran, he could not work with Paul Calvin Kelm and Larry (Our Staph Infection) Olson.
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The River Otter has left a new comment on your post "Churches Featuring Their Coffee Shops":
My church has a coffee cart and some treats after every service. The woman that serves loves to do it... there is a free will offering. It encourages people to stay after, get to know each other, chat, and have a community. It is regular Folgers or what have you...there is a choice of other beverages too, something for everyone. It is a welcome kindness, and facilitates the fellowship that we Christians need from each other.
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GJ - Most churches have a coffee hour, but there is something new brewing among the Shrinkers. Many of us find them incredibly self-centered and materialistic in appealing to the Old Adam, smirking about how well it works to gather current members of other churches into their cults and calling it evangelism.
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Churches Featuring Their Coffee Shops":
I think that instead of having "coffee hour", these Latte-Lutherans should have a non-coffee hour. You know, a change of pace after the church service is over. Since church for the Latte-Lutherans consists of lounging in easy chairs sipping coffee listening to Pastor Randy maybe non-coffee hour could be a time to study God's Word (without coffee) with a notable separation from what we do in normal life to aid in noticing contrast between God's world-view and humanities! Maybe even taking part in the sacraments!
Church becomes nonChurch so why couldn't nonchurch become church. It's a way to beat the semantic infiltration!
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Oh Worship the Brew":
"Simon Peter"
"Yes Lord"
"Do you love me?"
"You know I do!"
"Caffeinate my sheep"
