3 FEB 05: THE BRIGHT AND MORNING STARBUCKS
"I went to one church and gave to their Building Fund for two years, and I never saw 'em build nothing." So said a member of Cascade Hills Church recently to Pastor Bill Purvis - who should have responded by quoting that Bible verse about "counting the cost" of building a tower.
Bill Purvis mentioned this during a recent worship service because that member sees his "building fund" money at work at Cascade Hills Church. An expanded three-story building is being prepared, with the third floor to have a theater for movies and other presentations. Knowing this church, it will have a "flat screen" and surround-sound.
But what caught my attention before the service was something else a woman said on videotape about the construction. Once it's completed, Cascade Hills Church will offer Starbucks coffee! I thought this church's contemporary Christian music was enough to keep worshipers awake through the service.
You may not know Cascade Hills Church has its own small version of the Mustard Seed Christian store (except it doesn't sell my CD), and a coffee shop called Soul Café. The woman on the tape says these will be combined, "to have a Barnes and Noble-type feel to it" - and Starbucks coffee will be served. I suppose latte foam is easier to clean off your Bible....
(I was struck by the fact that Cascade Hills's Soul Café sells coffee in the first place, starting at 50 cents a cup. At all the other congregations I've attended, the coffee is free except for a donation box on the side. That'll teach Pastor Bill Purvis to say "offerings" can go outside the church budget.)
Newcomers from other cities probably are surprised to find Columbus has no Starbucks coffee shops. The only places offering Starbucks items are Barnes and Noble at Columbus Park Crossing, the TSYS food court downtown - and I don't think the six-pack bottles at Winn-Dixie stores really count.
In recent years, a Starbucks shop has replaced a McDonald's restaurant as a sign your city is "on the map," and is progressive. Yet a search of the company web site Wednesday found no shops within 50 miles of Columbus. Is the coffee at Cracker Barrel and Waffle House THAT good?
Given this coffee dearth, the news that Cascade Hills Church will offer Starbucks is quite noteworthy. Southern Baptists are so against bars, you'd think they'd have problems with "baristas" as well.
In effect, this church on 54th Street will have a Starbucks before "Uptown Columbus" does. But at least the downtown area has a Thomas Kinkade gallery -- while visitors to Cascade Hills have to settle for T-shirts with fish symbols on them.
Is Cascade Hills making religious history by planning to offer Starbucks coffee? Not quite. An online search Wednesday led to an item on the "Neither Nor" blog, about a New Hampshire church which added a Starbucks kiosk last summer. Since that happened, attendance has doubled. Amazing -- coffee brings in people, but wine at communion doesn't.
The "Christian Science Monitor" article quoted at the other blog included this comment from the New Hampshire church pastor: "It's not so much the coffee as the environment the coffee and the coffee bar create - a relaxed, relational, and fun place." My pastor would answer he'd rather be fundamental, than simply fun....
BLOG UPDATE: Please note one e-mail item and one joke have been deleted from Wednesday's entry. I've been asked not to go into the details of why - but I'll say only this: some people take time to call total strangers for their stories, before we spread them all over town. "IsOurCitySafe" didn't bother doing that.
E-MAIL UPDATE: Because of that deletion, we will penalize "IsOurCitySafe" and hold his/her latest stack of e-mails for another day. Instead we have a follow-up from a college student in Dallas, whose message we mentioned Tuesday:
Hi,
I meant that I missed Columbus local news in a more general way, such that I have grown up watching them and its very exciting when you get to see them around town in a restaurant or something. The news here is just fine, although I will never have the connection to these newscasters (I don't even know their names) like I do in Columbus. Thanks again.
Frank B.
I guess what it means, Frank, is that your heart is still anchored here in Columbus - including your TV news anchors.
Now let's sail around town, for other items of note from Wednesday:
+ A cloudy, rainy day turned surprisingly rough when an evening thunderstorm rattled downtown Columbus. Thunder and lightning, only four days after an ice storm?! This is turning into a weather version of a Golden Corral buffet.
+ A group called "Columbus Free Net" had a kickoff meeting, to discuss creating what one man called a "wireless cloud" over downtown Columbus. Well, this WOULD be a change of pace - a cloud over Columbus which people of all ethnic communities might like.
+ Habitat for Humanity chapter leaders began an online protest against the dismissal of chairman Millard Fuller. Imagine the fun icebreaker their meetings could have - as people take turns trying to say, "I'm fuming and furious over the firing of founder Fuller."
+ The Columbus Riverdragons blew a 19-point second-half lead, then made a three-point shot at the final buzzer and went on to beat Florida in overtime. They'll meet two more times in Florida this weekend - so there's plenty of time left for a bench-clearing brawl to start.
+ Instant Message to WRBL's Dan Edward: Troup County tight end Ben Watts is NOT going to the "Ivy League," as you claim. He signed to play college football at Bucknell. In fact, he's probably smart enough to know that's not in the Ivy League -- and he doesn't have the college degree you do.
COMING SOON: A former Columbus executive speaks openly about his old employer. This "Blog-Buster" exclusive will have jaws dropping....
To offer a story tip, make a donation or comment on this blog, write me - but be warned, I may post a reply.
If you quote from this in public somewhere, please be polite enough to let me know.
© 2003-05 Richard Burkard, All Rights Reserved.