Four years ago this October, I was reading an excellent book from Tommy Tenny called The God Chasers. In it, he wrote a phrase that simply leaped out of the page when I read it. It goes something like this: “If someone would simply open a store that dispenses Jesus, the hungry masses would come.”

That thought gripped me. After putting the book down, I couldn’t forget what I had read. Just prior to this, I had dreamed a strange dream in the night about opening a storefront. What did it all mean? So I asked God to show me what He meant, and then it came to me:

A café. An organic third-place* coffeehouse and ministry center where Christians could engage with the community and offer real-world, practical, hands-on workshops, concerts, and creative events. A gathering place that would bring people together and “dispense” Jesus to the spiritually hungry. An environment that would sponsor arts, innovation, and game-changing social causes. A hot destination for young people to catch the fire of God’s amazing purpose for their lives.

The concept of the “third place” refers to the natural cycle of where people spend their time. The first place is the home. The second place is work, or school. The third place is where people go to hang out, to chat, sometimes to study, or to engage with others in the community. In our culture, the coffeehouse/café has become a very popular third place. Starbucks is everywhere. Espresso bars are all the rage. The problem we have as Christians is that we generally take church very seriously and consider it a primary social circle. But for so many people, church just isn’t on the radar. They don’t go to church on Sunday or any other day, and they just aren’t interested.

The idea of starting a cutting-edge third-place ministry is gaining ground. I didn’t realize this at first, but after the café concept popped into my head, I began to do some research and discovered that Christian coffeehouses or youth-themed community centers are springing up all over the U.S. In fact, “spiritually” inspired centers of all shapes and sizes are becoming more popular as leaders realize that the typical church model just isn’t reaching a vast swath of the population. The buzzword of the hour is “missional”. Missional thinking in church circles is exploding, and there’s a lot of reexamining how to make disciples of Jesus outside the bubble of church life.

OK, back to my story. Four years ago, this center popped into my head. But at first, I thought I was going crazy! I’m the last person who’d open a coffeehouse. I’m a Web designer and musician. I don’t know anything about running a retail or food operation. But God works in mysterious ways. Fast forward to today.

I am now married to a wonderful woman who does have experience in the retail and food industry. I am a business owner with greater executive know-how and connections in both the business and church communities. I have talked to Christians I know well who already have a passion to reach the community for Christ in new and innovative ways. They’re tired of the status quo and want to see Santa Rosa and Sonoma County rocked for Jesus.

Dance classes. Financial planning. Dating and marriage seminars. Art sessions. Music concerts. Worldview debates. Goal setting and vision planning for youth. Entrepreneur summits. All from a Biblical, Christ-centered perspective. The list is endless. It’s time we Christians stop hiding out in our own little cocoon and start acting like who we’re called to be: a city shining on the hill that cannot be hidden.

This vision is now becoming a reality. Rosemary and I are in the process of looking at rental space and talking to potential team members. We are hoping to host a fundraiser and vision casting event sometime in the next month or so. We will be building a Web site with our official name, logo, and information soon.

This is so exciting to me. I’ve been burdened by this vision for four years, and now the momentum is finally building. God be praised! There’s so much to do still, but, as they say, just take it one step at a time. We’ll see what happens next. It’s gonna be good!