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Coffee with a Mission
Coffee Talk
Near Boquete, Panama, on the side of inactive volcano Volcan Baru, Guaymi Indians grow and harvest premium coffee beans. Churches like Connection Pointe Christian Church (Brownsburg, Indiana) grind the beans for fresh drinks. Mission Coffee (Indianapolis, Indiana) connects the two.
Panama Christian Evangelism founded Mission Coffee in 2004 to raise money for its outreach to the Guaymi. PCE, which owns the coffee-growing property, also provides medical and dental care, a food and clothing store, and a Bible institute for ministry training by local ministers and missionaries as well as professors from Atlanta (Georgia) Christian College, Cincinnati (Ohio) Christian University, and Ozark Christian College (Joplin, Missouri). The mission’s full-time staff of 20 also includes farm workers, mechanics, and drivers.
Both the “Pokey’s Premium” and “Debbie Debbie’s Decaffeinated” blends—named after Alan and Debbie Handt, PCE missionaries—are hand-picked and prepared in Boquete, and all profit from Mission Coffee sales funds the PCE mission.
“We have made a conscious choice not to pursue Fair Trade Certification, opting instead to channel that money to the people served by the mission,” the coffee company writes. “The proceeds of the coffee are returned to the mission in cash or in medicine.”
www.panamaforchrist.org
www.missioncoffee.org
Changing Course
This fall, Florida Christian College, Kissimmee, began offering a new online degree completion program. The Bachelor of Science in Christian Leadership is designed for adult students preparing for leadership roles in both professional ministry and careers beyond the church. Students must be at least 23 years old and have approximately 60 semester credits of transferable college-level credit.
www.fcc.edu
Third Place
After building a new worship center, Peachtree City (Georgia) Christian Church transformed its multipurpose room (formerly the primary worship center) into a new “Café Worship” venue.
The café joined the traditional and contemporary services already offered by PTCC, and includes the same sermon as the other two. But music is acoustic, seating is at candle-lit round tables, and coffee is not only permitted—it’s encouraged!
“Sunday morning attendance continues to grow,” Peachtree City writes, “and Café Worship is especially popular with people who are unchurched or haven’t attended church in a while. We’re experiencing a surge in visitors and new members. . . . Best of all, it has created a church where three and four generations of families are attending together.”
To accommodate these growing crowds, the church added a second Café Worship service after just four months.
www.ptcchristian.com
In the Mag
Although college life has dramatically changed in the last 50 years, Campus CrossWalk magazine—launched in 1956—remains relevant to a new generation of campus ministers and student leaders. The quarterly publication has transitioned to an online-only format, and articles like “Kingdom Economics” and “The Choice of Unbelief” still pose challenging questions.
“The magazine began as Campus Journal, and had a more academic flavor,” says current editor Joel Solliday, who also works full-time as pulpit minister with Northern Light Church of Christ in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. “But it has always served as a resource of encouragement and ideas for campus ministers.”
The journal’s board of directors, affiliated primarily with churches of Christ and their campus ministries, also organizes a seminar each summer. The 2008 event, held July 31–August 3 in Denver, Colorado, featured sessions on dozens of topics including conversational apologetics, church planting, spiritual formation, and ministry to international students.
In addition to the magazine, Campus CrossWalk’s Web site features a directory of campus ministries by state. And although the directory is also primarily church of Christ-based, Solliday and CCW’s board hope for more opportunities to connect with the independent Christian churches.
“These resources for campus ministries could also be opportunities for more interaction and unity,” Solliday says. “We want to build the kingdom—not any particular group.”
www.campuscrosswalk.org
Jennifer Taylor, one of CHRISTIAN STANDARD's contributing editors, lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
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