I was drawn to a story in my local paper about New Hope Community Church outside Portland, Oregon -- two of my sisters have attended services there regularly, and it's a landmark in the metropolitan area. But what struck me as culture-changing was a quote from the developer who's working with church leadership. He has one goal as he plans an entirely new church-centered commercial complex: "We hope this will be a Starbucks experience from one end to the other."Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) has a funny relationship with God; after all, the chain famously offended a woman so much she boycotted its coffee. So how is purchasing and drinking a caffeinated beverage in a Starbucks outlet similar to going to church? Part of it is about the audience; churches (at least in my hometown) have moved away from the formal experience in which the members of the congregation are simply watching a show put on by the "cast" of the church, and toward more interactive experiences in which small groups, focused around common interests, meet to discuss Bible passages or work together on a project -- from feeding the hungry to overcoming addiction. The parallels in retail? Yep, less convention center, more coffee shop.
This is where Starbucks comes in.
After all, the chain was built on the idea of selling good coffee, but started making money when it chose to embrace a welcoming atmosphere as its point of differentiation. Now it's a good bet, if you're meeting someone in a neutral setting -- from a first date to an interview to a Bible study -- you're doing it at Starbucks. And the chain has branched out from coffee to tea, sandwiches, pastries, salads, hot breakfast, coffee products, toys, books, music, movies. It's like a highly-selective shopping mall and your living room combined. And it seems like a good model for a church; after all, the concept of "coffee hour" is almost as sacred as communion in my own religious experience.
New Hope's plans include razing its huge sanctuary and "create a village-style convergence of commerce and religion" in which the church would anchor a complex including housing, shops, restaurants, a hotel, a health club, a plaza complete with requisite fountain and underground parking. There will be amphitheatres, a rock-climbing wall, a 160,000-square-foot church, a separate 400-seat chapel, and of course, a rooftop skate park. The project its still in its planning stages; nothing has been filed yet with the local land-use authorities, but by all indications the community is hungry (and thirsty) for the project to be completed.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-20-2007 @ 1:35PM
larissa said...
Sarah,
I don't find this unusual. Historically this merging of church and commerce has been done by other religions, they just haven't quoted Starbucks as a guide. I think you're absolutely right, the coffee hour is critical. Most people don't actually enjoy the church service by itself, though they may go for various reasons. Creating a warm and inviting community around that service is key to churches that are successful in bringing in and keeping lots of members, who in turn make donations and keep the church vital.
The most relevant that comes to mind is the Salvation Army, a church founded in the 1800s. The founder also had a vision of a combined space, though different from the one you write about here. He used the streets as his "cathedral of the open air," thus mingling commerce and religion without having to even build anything.
The book Red Hot and Righteous is about the history of the Salvation Army and its marketing posture, which Salvationists may have understood better than any other evangelical church has. You might like that book.
10-20-2007 @ 1:38PM
larissa said...
Added: I should say my guess is that *most* people would not enjoy the service all by itself with no other community activities surrounding it. Surely there are those who do.