How Coffee Creates a Culture of Conversation.

Observations whilst making coffee for the Christian Union’s ‘hipster’ mission week.

Every year, Christian Unions (CUs) at universities around the country decide to get a little more serious and a little more intense. All of a sudden, a whole week’s worth of events is flung into the public sphere, in the form of cute A5 flyers dumped into the hands of innocent passers-by on their way to class.

It’s that mysterious time of the year when the word ‘evangelisation’ is heard every five minutes; when there is a lunch gathering happening with a free talk about Jesus appended to it; when the student tabloid paper writes a balanced-not-balanced article about the subjectivity of faith, the stinking arrogance of proselytising, and the generally not-very-nice presence of exclusive beliefs on a modern Western univeristy campus.

But this year, in the far northern land of Durham, something strange happened. Something unexpected. “What was it?” you ask. What kind of strange ingenuity and innovation could have possibly taken place among a group of people who are known for being backward amidst a continually progressive society?

Well, Durham CU got hipster. This was ‘STORY’.

Apart from a frightening high-quality official video, an edgy website and impressive social media presence, there was — wait for it — coffee. And not just any coffee. Good coffee. Coffee from the infamous Flat White no less, renowned for its typically ‘Third Wave’ shabby chic: exposed brick walls, brass fitting, exposed hanging light bulbs and all the rest. Did you get that? Good coffee.

Every day, both at the lunchtime talks and at the evening events, there was a café set up at the back of the STORY marquee. And for the majority of these events it was my joy and pleasure to work on the bar, as part of the team of baristas making the coffee. Below are some of my observations from my perspective, standing at the espresso machine. Some are more serious than others.

• Having a café with good coffee and tea helped turn what was basically a big tent into a homely, welcoming space. Alongside the decor, the food, the stage set-up, and all the rest, serving warm caffeinated drinks contributed towards making an open space that was inviting and not bleak or hostile.
• Many people assume that baristas are cool. For many, throughout that week I was the barista-guy pouring the cute latte art. This was funny because more often than not my mind was elsewhere — stressing about a summative essay due that Friday. In truth, people who really know me will know I’m actually quite ordinary (*boring?*) and rather like my studies a little too much. Put me behind an espresso machine, however, and I am transformed into San Fran cool and I’ve got tha skillz.
• It is no surprise that café-culture has in many ways superseded the pub-culture of the past. Cafés are not just places to buy coffee or tea. They are shared public spaces that foster community. The STORY café, in creating a space for conversation, served so well the whole purpose of the whole week — sharing stories with each other whilst learning about the story of Jesus. Coffee helped to create a culture of conversation.
• The most popular drinks were flat whites and black americanos. Well done Durham! You did us proud. Only once did I have to upset the tasty espresso by adding sugary-syrup.

• The café serving coffee, with the conversational atmosphere that this fosters, helped to bring in a type of ‘evangelism’ (yes, that oh-so-loaded term) that I think is (1) remarkably helpful and (2) thoroughly biblical. Talking about issues of faith over coffee in relaxed space helped guard against one potential danger when it comes to sharing the Jesus-story — the danger of making Christianity just a set of teachings. Jesus didn’t come just to give us a neat set of morals or teachings. He came to give himself. Himself. He shared his whole life with those around him.
• Let me elaborate on that some more: Jesus made disciples. Yes, he preached and spoke in front of the crowds, but most often he shared his life with just a few — the twelve disciples. With these twelve he talked the talk and walked the walk. He told and showed them what the Kingdom of God was like. It wasn’t merely abstract and confessional; it was concrete and functional. And then, after spending three years with him, Jesus turns to those twelve and says, “Now you, go and make disciples too.” These twelve guys had experienced transformed lives through closely following Jesus, and now they themselves are sent out to share their own transformed lives with others. Yes, this includes teaching about the gospel, but this teaching is assumed in the bigger picture of showing the gospel through a transformed life. The story of Jesus affects the whole person, not just a set of ideals that can be spelled out in a few minutes.
• We see Paul do this too. Once he persecuted the church with cunning glee, but after a transformative encounter with the risen Jesus he starts following Jesus. In a letter to the church in Thessalonica he says this: So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us (1 Thess. 2.8, emphasis mine). Paul, out of love and authenticity, shared his whole self with those who didn’t know Jesus. Paul, too, shared his own transformed life. Again, this includes teaching but so much more.
• So back to coffee and STORY. Serving coffee encouraged natural conversation after the talks from the stage. These two complemented each other well, emphasising that the story of Jesus and a changed, transformed life go hand-in-hand. They cannot be separated. After a talk from the platfrom on the resurrection of Jesus there was discussion afterwards, where Christians could share how the resurrected Jesus had affected their own lives.
• This coffee-conversation-culture can teach both parties — those who call themselves Christians and those who don’t. (1) Christians can be reminded that evangelism isn’t just about the sharing of doctrinal propositions detached from their own transformed life. (2) Those who wouldn’t call themselves Christians can see the same: that Christianity isn’t merely an intellectual assent to the possibility of Jesus. Rather, it is shown that Christianity is about how the story of Jesus effect each person in a radical way. A way that involved a transformation of mind — so a change in intellectual and theoretical posture — and heart and soul — so the whole self, to the core of our being.

Maybe I’m getting a bit ‘Meta’, but this is what serving coffee at STORY taught me afresh. And perhaps it taught others the same.

It’s vital for Christians to share their transformed self, not just some doctrinal propositions. Why? Because, apart from all the above, if the doctrinal propositions concerning Jesus are true they have to affect the whole person. They have to bring transformation.

P.S. If you didn’t watch the above video linked to ‘San Fran cool’, you’re seriously missing out.

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