Churches could take a lesson from Starbucks
Ex-pastor learns a lot from hanging out at the “office.”
The church needs to learn that people really don’t want to be seen as ‘prospects’ and hounded to become members. Church should be about freedom, not pressure.
I was a pastor for 38 years, and every day I reported to my office at the church to do the work of ministry. I retired four years ago, and now I report to one of three “offices” to do my new work of writing. My “offices” consist of three local Starbucks, where I take my little notebook computer, write words of profound theological wisdom and sip way too much coffee.
Because I go to one of my “offices” nearly every afternoon, I’ve learned a lot about the Starbucks culture. Perhaps I should just admit that I’m now part of the Starbucks culture.
I’ve come to believe that some of what I’ve learned at Starbucks would have helped me when I was a pastor. In light of the recent and discouraging survey released by the Pew Research Center that points to a declining Christianity in our country, perhaps the church needs to pay more attention to what Starbucks is doing to “reach people.”
Here are a few things I think the church can learn from Starbucks:
Quality counts. The stuff at Starbucks is really good. Not just the coffee, but the pastries, panini and sandwiches, as well. People will flock to quality, even if it is expensive. For the church that means that its music, worship, preaching and programming must be of the highest quality. How we do things speaks volumes about our commitment to God and our desire to reach people.
Leave people alone. The nice thing about Starbucks is I can slip in there, get a great cup of coffee, spend a couple of hours writing, and be left totally alone. The church needs to learn that people really don’t want to be seen as “prospects” and hounded to become members. Church should be about freedom, not pressure.
Focus on individuals. I really enjoy listening to people place their orders at Starbucks. They string together six or seven adjectives to describe the exact drink they want. And the friendly barista mixes it up and delivers it just as they ordered it. It’s all personal and uniquely crafted for that person. The only way for the church to grow as an institution is to forget it is an institution and to start focusing on individual people and their needs.
Give people something to look forward to. Because I am a fullfledged member of the Starbucks culture, I have my own “gold card.” That means I get a free drink after every 12 purchases, a free drink on my birthday, and special discounts on certain items. I look forward to going to the “office” to claim my gifts. Too often, I realize now, we didn’t have that sense of expectancy in the churches I pastored. It was “business as usual” with little anticipation or surprise. What is the ecclesiastical version of the “gold card?”
Demand something. There is a big “catch” to all of this wonderful stuff at Starbucks: It is not cheap. Get one of those fancy, souped-up drinks, and you can do some major damage to a $10 bill. Starbucks is not ashamed to demand something of its patrons, and the church shouldn’t be either. There’s nothing wrong with the church expecting its members to give, serve, worship and sacrifice. Who wants to be a member of any group where membership means nothing?
Create a yeasty, zany, laughter-filled environment. I love the atmosphere at Starbucks. The décor, the music, the variety of people, the cordial baristas and the delightful aroma of coffee combine to make it an alluring place to be. In his book “The Pursuit of Wow!,” Tom Peters tells of a small company that adopted the following mission statement: “Have a collegial, supportive, yeasty, zany, laughter-filled environment where folks support one another and politics is as absent as it can be in a human enterprise.” That’s what it feels like at Starbucks — and what it ought to feel like at church.
There are a few other things I could add to that list, but that’s enough for now. Besides, my cup is empty, and, as a fullfledged gold card member, I also get free refills.