Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
Rediscovering Community: From Coffee Shops to Genuine Connections {Reflections}
Imagine a world where your local café is more than just a stop for caffeine—it's a place where everybody knows your name, a sanctuary from the hustle, inspired by a stroll through Italian streets. In our latest episode, sparked by Howard Schultz's transformative vision for Starbucks, we unravel this captivating journey from high-end coffee bean retailer to a cherished "third place" for social gatherings. Amidst the convenience of drive-thrus and mobile apps, we ponder the fading essence of community once intrinsic to Starbucks, and raise an eyebrow at the broader societal drift from tangible connections to pixelated interactions. With Schultz's inspiration as our guide, we reflect on the critical role such spaces play in nurturing real-life relationships.
But what happens when our community doesn’t just live in nostalgia? We challenge you to look beyond your screens and rekindle the joy of offline interactions. Whether it's joining us at Central in Elk River for board game nights or sharing a meal, creating genuine connections has never been more essential. We explore the irreplaceable value of these face-to-face experiences and urge you to embrace them to foster a thriving sense of community. So, come along as we rediscover the vibrant world of real-life gatherings and the beautiful relationships they foster, reminding us all of the profound impact these memorable exchanges can have.
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What is up everybody? Hey, mike, what's up buddy? All right, hey, listen, I was listening to this great podcast the other day and I've told several of my friends about it already. So if you're listening and I'm repeating myself, I'm sorry, but it's called Acquired. It's this great podcast about these two guys. They kind of interview all these companies and business owners about how they became the success they are today and they kind of unpack or rather even a tragedy, but they unpack these businesses that have these historic stories to tell. It's great. It's called Acquired, and so I was listening recently to the one with Howard Schultz. He's the CEO Well, I don't know if he currently is, but he was the longtime CEO of Starbucks and really the reason that Starbucks became Starbucks and one thing among other things, but one really prominent thing sort of grabbed me.
Speaker 1:There was a bunch of it's a fascinating interview. It's like three hours long, but one thing that stood out to me was that okay. So here's a quick story about Starbucks. When they first began as a company, they did not sell coffee drinks. So, by the way, I would argue today that Starbucks is not really a coffee shop any longer. It's really like a smoothie stand that sells an occasional coffee drink. It's mostly like pink vanilla chocolate drinks and mixed with an espresso here or there, but I digress. So when they first began they sold coffee beans. They sell these high-end, you know sort of upper echelon level coffee beans and grounds to people who like coffee. Before this there was nothing like this in the market. There was only Folgers and instant coffee and these kinds of not great coffee, and so that was what they did.
Speaker 1:And then Howard Schultz comes on board and he's the marketing guy for them and he has this moment where he flies to Italy for a conference and in Italy the coffee shop was this beautiful, like central hub for like all things social, community and coffee. So he was over there and he swung into this Italian coffee shop and if you've ever been to Italy and you've been to one of these shops, you know what I'm talking about. I was in where was I? Assisi, and we went to one of these shops. You know what I'm talking about. I was in where was I, assisi, and we went to one of these beautiful and it was magical. And you go in there and they're not just selling coffee, they're like people are there. It's like there's hustle and bustle. They're reading newspapers, smoking cigarettes outside, they're having conversation. It's like the central hub and gathering for Italian people in many ways. And they're having conversations. It's like the central hub and gathering for Italian people in many ways.
Speaker 1:And Howard Schultz goes over there and has this wonderful experience. This is amazing and he wants to bring this back to the US Because back then there was nothing like this in the US at all, no kind of sort of hub whatsoever for folks to gather. And he calls this the third place. It's not work, it's not home, it's an in-between space where you gather, have community, people know each other's names and he was like he found it magical. So he comes back and he brings this to the US and this he attributes this.
Speaker 1:This was like the reason Starbucks became Starbucks, because you weren't just buying coffee, you weren't just driving through getting your commodity, you were experiencing community. The barista knew your name, you knew all the other patrons' names. There was a sense of hustle and bustle and vibrant community and conversation and it was incredible and that's how Starbucks was. But here's the deal he talks about in the podcast how this is going away and I've noticed it myself and I hate it, but the drive-thru was invented or was, I guess, proliferated, and now you have. He actually says, one of the Achilles heels of Starbucks now is the online mobile ordering app, where you order on the app and you rush in, get your coffee and you rush back out and you never engage with a barista or any other patrons. Now it's actually the throughput has gone through the roof. They're making more money because of the mobile app, but I guess in the long term, howard Schultz is nervous that it actually will undo the fabric of what made Starbucks Starbucks.
Speaker 1:And that's the third place, and I agree and what it reminded me of. I think we as people, especially today, we're so lonely already we're separated. We do everything online. I mean, the drive-thrus are popping up everywhere. Now my favorite, caribou, got closed in town and in its place they opened a drive-thru Caribou and I'm like this is crazy. I used to love going in there to hang out. I knew them. Even if it was Caribou, it's sort of a bigger model. I'm like I still knew all the people that worked there. All my friends would gather in there, and it's gone now and no one's hanging out in the drive-through Caribou line. You know what I mean. And so we have Netflix online. You can stream movies online.
Speaker 1:The theater seems to be in some pockets of the country dying off. The mall, the shopping mall as a gathering place back in the 80s, that's kind of dying away. There are like resurgences of these things, but generally we're losing these third places and it kills me, because I love community, I love gathering, I love the hustle and bustle of doing these things together. And it reminded me of like hey, we need more third places, we need more restaurants that are fun places to hang out, things like a Starbucks. I wonder if down the road we will start to long for these even more. Maybe they'll start popping back up. I have no idea, but right now they're kind of disappearing.
Speaker 1:I think the church in many ways is a wonderful third place where we can gather. You're not at home, you aren't at work. We can gather experience real, authentic or as authentic as we can get community conversation, dialoguing about great topics and things that are relevant to the world and our lives and these kinds of things. But I guess I would say I share Howard Schultz's grief that Starbucks and other coffee shops are going the way of sort of more efficient, expedient kinds of coffee experiences and I wish and long for the rebirth of the third place and not to put too fine a point on it. But here's where I think it makes a lot of sense to me as a pastor.
Speaker 1:I do think that human beings were created for relationships. I think that God, god and God's self, exists within this beautiful relationship the Father, the Son and the Spirit. And God has this threeness and yet oneness to God. And so within the—we call this the Trinity, by the way, is the fancy religious word for it—and the triune nature of God, within God, god's self, there is like threeness, so there's like a community within God. I love this vision of God, that God is not some isolated, lonely being, but God is a three in oneness. So there's community, other-centered, loving, giving, serving, receiving within God, god's self. And then, when God creates humans in that image, I do think part of that means, at least in some regard, that we are also created as like communal, relational kinds of beings.
Speaker 1:In some regard that we are also created as like communal, relational kinds of beings, and you see this fleshed out a lot when humans are isolated or lonely or by themselves. It's not great for our health, our physical health, certainly, our mental health and so on, and so we're created to be in community with each other, and so it breaks my heart to see some of these communal spaces going away in the name of expediency. And I'm not saying that the gospel is Starbucks, I'm just saying how can we be people who really connect together? And in the world today we're more connected online, certainly, but we're more disconnected in other real, authentic human-to-human contact kinds of ways, and I think we're missing an experience of God because of that. So I think maybe the encouragement is like this Christmas, this Advent, this season of life, find ways to kind of encounter the other in real flesh and blood kinds of ways.
Speaker 1:So, like in January, here at Central, we're going to do a board game night, like totally off the grid, analog. Come, hang out with your family and friends and play board games all night. We'll have snacks, just as a way of like creating another third space or third place. And but what are ways in which you can do that? Go on real dates, go to the movie theater, sit with friends, go have dinner with somebody, either invite them over to your house or go to somewhere out where there's a real people gathering and experience real life community, with other people and see what happens. All All right. Love you guys, peace. Hey, if you enjoy this show, I'd love to have you share it with some friends. And don't forget, you are always welcome to join us in person at Central in Elk River at 8.30, which is our liturgical gathering, or at 10 o'clock, our modern gathering, or you can check us out online at clcelkriverorg. Peace.
