Comments on: Entering the Holy of Holies http://theministrycafe.com/2007/01/entering-the-holy-of-holies/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=entering-the-holy-of-holies Serving Christ in a Coffee Culture Wed, 07 Sep 2011 02:34:26 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Cathy Hutchison http://theministrycafe.com/2007/01/entering-the-holy-of-holies/comment-page-1/#comment-23 Cathy Hutchison Tue, 23 Jan 2007 15:04:20 +0000 http://theministrycafe.com/2007/01/22/entering-the-holy-of-holies/#comment-23 My church (small--about 200 seats in a strip mall) is set up in tables. One of the things we realized is that though this is great for community, the "coffee house" vibe doesn't create that sense of awe. ie) people are comfortable talking or getting up and leaving during worship or the sermon because the visual cues are that it is a community space. We shifted and developed a huge lobby with tables and a coffee house feel to serve as the community space, then restaged the main worship area to include candles, places to pray (including a prayer wall where we've provided strips of parchment people can write on and place in the cracks). We also created a 30 min window before the service where there is quiet music. The worship team, tech crew and pastor do not speak within the space during this window (maybe a smile in greeting, but no words) and everyone else seems to follow along. The doors between the worship center and the lobby remain closed. By changing, the "cues" we were giving people, Crosspointe changed the sense of worship within the main space without compromising on community. They also gave people the option to choose. Some come in and pray quietly to prepare for worship. Others hang out and chat in the community space. Both needs are met. One of the cool things about being a small church is that though we long for better, more permanent facilities, it is easy to change things and experiment with staging for worship. My hope is that if we build in the future, we'll design very basic permanent structure with tons of storage for staging pieces so that we can change the space to create different experiences. My church (small–about 200 seats in a strip mall) is set up in tables. One of the things we realized is that though this is great for community, the “coffee house” vibe doesn’t create that sense of awe. ie) people are comfortable talking or getting up and leaving during worship or the sermon because the visual cues are that it is a community space.

We shifted and developed a huge lobby with tables and a coffee house feel to serve as the community space, then restaged the main worship area to include candles, places to pray (including a prayer wall where we’ve provided strips of parchment people can write on and place in the cracks). We also created a 30 min window before the service where there is quiet music. The worship team, tech crew and pastor do not speak within the space during this window (maybe a smile in greeting, but no words) and everyone else seems to follow along. The doors between the worship center and the lobby remain closed.

By changing, the “cues” we were giving people, Crosspointe changed the sense of worship within the main space without compromising on community. They also gave people the option to choose. Some come in and pray quietly to prepare for worship. Others hang out and chat in the community space. Both needs are met.

One of the cool things about being a small church is that though we long for better, more permanent facilities, it is easy to change things and experiment with staging for worship.

My hope is that if we build in the future, we’ll design very basic permanent structure with tons of storage for staging pieces so that we can change the space to create different experiences.

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