Continuing our conversation of a few weeks ago I’d like to add this spin on the free wi-fi debate from Church Marketing Sucks.
How about opening your church up?
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What if your church had the sweetest wifi in the town, some really comfy chairs and a few friendly faces? How great would it be to have folks normally hostile to “church” be able to say, “I’m gonna go hang out at the church and get some work done.”
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I can tell you this: if I found somewhere with good coffee or sweet tea, open spaces and comfy chairs, I’d be there in a heartbeat. Folks lucky enough to work at home, thankful as they should be, need to get away sometimes.So bump up your Internet speed, get some decent coffee, sweet tea or pastries, and invite folks on in. This is the 21st century. Maybe it’s time that the church is a friend for the friendless, a home for the homeless and an office for the officeless.
I’ll echo his comments on working from home, sometimes it’s far more pleasant to go work somewhere else. And finding that triple threat of comfortable working spaces, good wi-fi, and readily available outlets is far harder to do than it should be. Imagine what it would mean to your community if your church was the place to find the perfect office away from your office?
Anybody go to a church that does this?
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January 24, 2008 at 15:55
i’m on staff at Community Christian Church (communitychristian.org) in Naperville, IL and we’ve had this set up for a little over 7 years now. We have a full service cafe equipped with an espresso bar, pastries and tea, etc, not to mention a ton of places to sit and do work and a great wi-fi connection. to top it off, we open our building at 5:30am in time for the morning commute to Chicago and have a park ‘n ride stop to the train station. a lot of people come inside in the morning waiting for the bus to arrive to take them to the train and they order coffee, sit down and do a little work before heading in. it works out pretty well. you’ll also see people come in throughout the day and work… it’s pretty neat and you really do meet a ton of people through the whole deal.
January 24, 2008 at 16:26
Dang it monts. I was just about to wax eloquent on how Community Christian Church had been doing this for some time, but you cut me off. I was at CCC with a group of 20 Christian Ministry majors from Taylor University and we encountered a number of people simply using their church building as a place to hang out, do homework (i wasn’t smart enough to help a gal with some calculus), and get some drinks.
Also, we pulled into the church parking lot and somebody made the comment, “wow, they must have a ton of staff.” Wrong. There were just a lot of people who had been using the CCC parking lot. Way to go CCC on having a church building that isn’t just used on Sundays.
January 24, 2008 at 17:44
I think this is a fabulous idea ! What a great way to build actual relationships instead of scaring people with the big loud E of a large scale evangelism event. I’d even brave the anxiety of my severe social phobia to be there daily if my church were to do something like this. Resource-wise, that’s not realistic right now, but that’s an idea I’ll be keeping in prayer.
January 24, 2008 at 20:24
I’m a youth director at a small, aging Presbyterian church. Our youth basement has a great wi-fi signal, and lots of couches and power outlets. Also, the standard ping-pong table. I let my students know they’re free to stop in any time and use the basement.
We host all sorts of other community groups during the week (A.A., Boy Scouts, etc.), and there are many committee meetings (by virtue of being a Presbyterian church), so I think the pragmatics of a community open house would get tricky… But bottom line, I’m glad to be able to extend use of the wi-fi signal and comfy space to my students while the rooms aren’t otherwise in use.
January 24, 2008 at 23:55
I think it’s a great idea, it would not be as affective in our rural area but other places sure! We have an open wi-fi network at our church, against my wishes but only the staff really use it.
January 25, 2008 at 01:19
This already happens in Britain.
In Britain, there are many church buildings which are cafes, or sell carpets, or are hostels, or art galleries etc.
January 25, 2008 at 02:13
Very interesting idea indeed. I think I like it. =D
January 25, 2008 at 10:03
It has to be done well. That’s not to say that it can’t or shouldn’t be done, it just needs to be done well.
And, God bless the folks in large churches who can set up a full-featured espresso bar in their building – that ain’t the bulk of us. That’s not necessary what I mean by “well.” Here’s what I mean:
1. The Church’s ISP ought to be a commercial account for full-time access-sharing. None of the ISP’s in my area offer non-profit accounts (grrr) so that can be a bit pricey for Cable, DSL not so much so.
2. If you’re like me and you live in an area with 5 or 6 free wi-fi spots in driving distance (and 2 within walking), then a cafe isn’t going to be the best option. A comfy place to work without noise would be a good way to pitch it (and the key is “comfy,” Libraries are not comfortable). A homework lab might be good in the afternoon as well if you can find a grant to pay for laptops.
3. Network zones are a must. If you’ve got your church office computer on the network you do NOT want that in the public zone. Set up a system so that people logging on to the free node all have to agree to a code of conduct (no porn, for example) – this would authenticate computers, record mac addresses and ip leases, and keep folks off the private end of the network. This can be done with free software and an old computer that has one wireless and one wired nic.
4. It’s go to be open when the church says it’s going to be open. Volunteer organizations are HORRIBLE at seeing people follow through with their committments, and churches are the worst at this because they “don’t want to lose anybody.”
Follow these guidelines, and you should be ok, and bless the community. I’m thinking of setting this place up for seminars and a homework lab in the near future. Just need to find the time to put it all together.
January 25, 2008 at 10:05
A grand idea indeed…will present this to my church asap
January 25, 2008 at 12:26
National Community Church in DC actually owns a fully functional coffee shop, complete with excellent and cheap free trade coffees (and espresso, tea, etc.) great WiFi and a large space. The only drawback is that the seating is pretty Ikea-Spartan. It’s designed well, but none of it is all that comfortable.
Myself, I end up at the upscale coffee shop most days to do my work… you can’t beat (better than) free trade coffees that are roasted perfectly in small batches. Seriously, it’s coffee served with the respect that most good wine gets – that’s why I head there.
I think our church does a great job.
Also, on the security aspect. You can also use OpenDNS which can filter and do all that stuff, pair that with changing the firmware on the routers to Tomato and you’ve got yourself a system!
January 25, 2008 at 17:18
Sounds great and have seen this in action for about 15 years well Wi-Fi coming in around 4 years ago. But let’s be honest it does not and will not draw in a lot of people outside the church. Even in hip coffee cultured Seattle this is not the case.
The church needs to respond to why people will not step into a local church (ask Rick Warren) and too often the church is seen as misguided and judgmental. How would the church deal with transgenders, gays, and others who are deemed unacceptable in their building?
This is just more marketing that does not address the real issues at hand in how to reach out compassionately and truthfully to the local neighborhood without alienating them because they view and live life differently and will probably continue to do so. Will we lovingly continue to friend them, communicate with them, hang out with them in spite of the differences. Or continue on in the battle of us vs them culture wars alienating an even greater part of the population.
January 25, 2008 at 18:15
I consult for a small company with no office space. I sometimes meet with the Owner in a room at our church. I make an “appointment” with the church secretary when we need to get together. We really appreciate having a convenient place to go over business without having to rent a room or meet in a restaurant. I’ve never checked to see if there is an open network we could hook up to, but it sure would be nice. I think a church could start small and grow with the response. Are there any legal or insurance issues to deal with if a church provides this service to the public?
January 26, 2008 at 07:53
I like this, and I love coffee and all, but how is a cafe a ministry? And, if revenues are being generated from a cafe beyond covering expenses, doesn’t that make it a business, in spirit if not in name? Should churches own businesses and perform services for pay that are not ministerial?
A church that can afford to be a ‘cool hangout spot’ certainly seems open to criticism about mismanagement of resources, when so many churches so frequently go without.
The first time I bought a large iced mocha at church (Madison Park Church of God, Anderson IN) I was greatly disturbed about it for the rest of the day. Incidentally, the sermon I heard was part of a sermon cycle linking Beatles lyrics to Jesus and the pastor’s experience vacationing in an expensive and exotic place. All in all, it was a pretty horrific experience. There was valet parking. Culture shock?
It was a pretty decent mocha, though.
January 27, 2008 at 10:02
It’s a great idea if it draws people to Christ. The church in Naperville, I applaud your efforts. Have you seen people come to Christ as a result? Otherwise it’s a futile effort.
January 28, 2008 at 00:08
Quest Church in Seattle runs a pretty top-notch cafe. Pastor Eugene Cho is very intentional about everything they do. I think Q Cafe stands as a great example of how a coffee shop can be a ministry. No, I’m not affiliated with the church, hahaha…
A couple links:
http://www.qcafe.org/
http://www.seattlequest.org/
What do you think?
January 28, 2008 at 21:45
I love the idea, and for a while my church was doing this accidentally because the Wi-Fi was open. There were a few times that I drove into the parking lot to find someone sitting in the car using the Internet access. However, our church has since closed the connection so that it is only used for staff.
The security concerns are something that is going to be beyond most churches. The last think you want is someone using the connectivity for inappropriate or illegal activities and just having a code of conduct isn’t going to work for something that extends beyond the church’s walls.
So, how are folks doing this handling security?