Rev. Rick Ebbers doesn’t need to step out to the local coffee shop for a break. That’s where his office is.
Ebbers is pastor of The Journey, an emerging Christian Reformed congregation in Longmont, Colo. “We have a rented facility where we worship and have real office space,” said Ebbers, “but this is where I have met the people of Longmont for the past seven years, and this is where they expect me to be.”
Ebbers learned early in his ministry that fewer and fewer people today look to the church to find spirituality. He also knew that coffee shops offer an environment that fosters community.
So when he began the church plant in Longmont, he visited every coffee shop in town. He found the Brewing Market within a half mile of the worship center, and the baristas greeted him as if they wanted to get to know him.
The staff at the Brewing Market refers people to Ebbers for pastoral advice. The setting offers a safe place for meeting pastorally with women and has background noise for privacy. It has become a center for social ministry in the community.
“My leadership team expects me to be out in the world,” said Ebbers. “I have a workplace filled with nonbelievers, just like the people who attend my church do. I feel like I am modeling what I tell them to do.”
