Make that a Doppio

Connection Metro Church, Denver, which used its foyer coffee bars to attract visitors to its eight satellite churches in the Denver area, has decided to abandon ministry altogether to focus on coffee.
    "People liked the coffee a lot better than the ministry, according to congregational surveys, so we're practicing what we preached and focusing on our strengths," says former teaching pastor and now chief marketing officer, Peter Brown. Apparenlty, many had reached the conlcusion that the sermons were OK but the coffee and vanilla frappes were dynamite.

    So, I've been thinking, isn't this a good thing:  giving people what they want? Isn't that a Jesus-like principle?  Why bore folks to death with 30 (and heaven forbid, 40-45 minute-long monlogues on the "Ancient Near-Easterm treaty formularies and their impact on genealogical forms" and instead use your gifts where they are best suited: making those swirly designs on the cappuccio foam! Imagine those gifts that are just going to waste! Yes, we should all intoruduce Starbucks-like coffee bars into the church. I've been saying this for years, now.

   First Presbyterian Church, Jackson has nothing to worry about, however. No one comes for the coffee. In fact, Ligon has this policy to avoid this kind of Jesus-like ministry: serve the worst coffee imaginable and ensure "tradition rules here.".