Churches, libraries wake up and smell the coffee

Bird songs are piped through a speaker near the cafe, inside Rochester Christian Church Ministries in Gates.

The one-stop java shop in the church's front lobby is decorated with bamboo accents. Plastic leaves and colorful lights hang from the ceiling.

"It creates an atmosphere of warmth," said longtime church member Clinton Park on a recent Sunday morning.

"You see people talking. If this wasn't here, everybody would just go (into the church sanctuary) and sit down."

The Tree of Life Cafe has been open before and after Sunday school and morning worship at the church for nearly three years. It is one of a handful of area churches that have added a cafe, a coffee bar or coffee house events.

Inside those houses of worship with coffee bars, coffee, tea and other beverages are served for a nominal fee or are sometimes provided for free. Run by church volunteers, these coffee bars are typically open Sunday mornings. But some are open before Bible study or other special events at the church.

Not only are coffee bars cropping up in nontraditional locations such as churches, but a few local libraries have added coffee bars as well.

Chili Public Library, for instance, dedicated its Chili Public Library Coffee Cafe in October. Through a partnership with Leaf and Bean Coffee Co. in Chili, the library has a self-serve coffee bar located near its entrance. Patrons can purchase a $1 coffee cup from the circulation desk and serve themselves.

"It's a fairly new thing for libraries," said Jennifer Ries-Taggart, director of the library. "We have found little to no damage."

The damage she is referring to is spills on books and other library materials. Back in the day, beverages and food in the library were a no-no.

"We used to be very worried about that, but those fears really haven't come to pass,'' said Terri Bennett, director of the Webster Public Library, which does not have a cafe or coffee bar, but does have vending machines.

"People are careful, and the only place we really do sort of monitor is near our computers, and only because anybody dropping coffee (or) pop on them can really cause damage. As far as our books, I would say we've not had a problem at all with that. We actually provide a little area where we encourage people to have their lunch or whatever."

Bennett wants the Webster library to be a "community living room" of sorts, where neighbors can come, have a cup and chat with friends. "We want to make it a very welcoming environment," added Bennett.

Church leaders also note the welcoming aspect when discussing the decision to include coffee bars in their houses of worship. Area pastors say cafes and coffee bars are another form of fellowship - a way to make people more comfortable when they enter a church. Faith Chapel in Riga, for instance, has offered a Christian Coffee House on Friday nights since November. Christian bands perform in the sanctuary. Coffee, hot chocolate and specialty drinks, including smoothies and milkshakes, are available free. The guests sit at tables covered with tablecloths inside the sanctuary.

"We wanted to try to reach people in a different way" said the Rev. Dave Branch, pastor of Faith Chapel.

"We said, 'Let's offer something free, and yet people can come out from the stress of the world and come into a Christian atmosphere,' " added Branch. "It's very informal. We have a 5- or 10-minute devotional message."

Brighton United Church of Christ was planning to hold a coffeehouse gathering called Java and Joy on the second and fourth Fridays of the month, starting last Friday.

Java and Joy is to feature coffee, tea, soda, hot chocolate and snacks, said organizer and church member Pat Witt, who added that the price for a beverage will be 25 to 50 cents. The object is to offer young people an alternative place to hang out.

"They can come here, they can bring their homework, they can play board games, they can play cards and it's open mike," said Witt. "So if they want to read poems, tell stories, sing, they are welcome to it. It's in the church, but it's not religious-oriented."

Traditionalists may raise their eyebrows at a coffeehouse event or cafe in a house of worship. After all, isn't the purpose of church to feed your spirituality, not satiate your java jones?

Those affiliated with coffee bars in area churches say cafes do not take away from the religious message the church is trying to convey.

"If you read the book of Acts and some of the letters that Paul wrote, you'll find that if you look at church history, they always seemed to fellowship around the table and around food," said Branch.

"You get somebody around your kitchen table, what happens? All of a sudden, you let your guard down a little bit and they begin to relax and share more with each other. We want people to come in and feel relaxed, not to feel pressured."

Religious teachings and coffee can go hand in hand inside the Solid Rock Cafe at First Bible Baptist Church in Greece.

The cafe is open Sunday mornings before and during the church's three services. Bagels, doughnuts and muffins are sold along with juice and hot and cold beverages.

Solid Rock Cafe has television monitors that broadcast church services. A parent can take a fidgety young child to the cafe during a service, for example, and sit at one of the tables.

"Let's say someone is nursing or someone is sick, they are just not feeling up to a big crowd," said Gary Sauer, singles pastor at First Bible Baptist. "They can go down there and watch and listen to the service."

The singles ministry (which oversees the cafe) holds a First Friday Fellowship each month. Pizza and beverages are served in the cafe at 6:30 p.m. before Bible study starts at 7:15 p.m., also in the cafe.

Though it may seem odd to some, organizers think cafes and coffee bars are a fitting and welcome addition to houses of worship.

"We serve coffee so that our congregation can come together a little earlier before church," said Elizabeth Gonzalez, who operates the Tree of Life Cafe in Gates.

"They can have a little breakfast together, they can talk and they can really get to know each other, because that knits us together."

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle