By Brad Canning
It seems to me God has a great sense of humor in the surprising ways he makes his love known to the people of New York.
My wife Joy and I volunteer for Monday lunch at a soup kitchen in Park Slope. Last week in the serving line I worked with a girl I”ll call Andi. When meeting someone new, it usually isn”t long before you”re asked, “What do you do for a living?” When I told Andi I was a minister, she followed up with, “You aren”t the church The New York Times wrote about a week or so ago are you?”
A little taken aback, I said, “Yeah, that”s us.” I could almost hear Bogart say, “Of all the churches in all the cities in all the world, you had to read about mine . . . ”
Let me tell you our story.
Some time ago, after I came home from a meeting, Joy told me that Motoko Rich, a reporter from The New York Times, wanted to interview us about Postmark, a coffeehouse we had started in Park Slope, Brooklyn. I must admit, I was intimidated. “Couldn”t we have started with the Park Slope Courier or even the Daily News,” I said. “But The New York Times!?” My second thought, or more accurately my fifth or sixth thought was, Hey, maybe this isn”t an obstacle. Maybe it”s an opportunity.
Debate
When we began dreaming about starting a church in Park Slope, we decided to begin in a rather unconventional way. We”d start a coffee shop in the neighborhood. We envisioned it as a center from which we could work and as a way to meet neighbors.
Not long after we started the coffee shop, Postmark became the hot topic of an Internet message board. One person complimented the “cozy new coffee shop,” but another said it was “a front for a church.” Overnight Postmark became the center of a heated debate. We were accused of being “covert” and “deceptive.”
About a month later Joy posted an advertisement on the same message board about a story time for toddlers and preschool children. Another debate flared up. One posting said, “Their desire is to lure families in with seemingly neutral activities, and then spring Christianity on them by surprise.”
Another said, “I think we are more used to programs that seek to compare and contrast different cultures and religions than programs which seek to draw others into one particular culture or religion.” There were probably 45 or 50 posts debating Postmark and story time before the moderator once again ended the discussion. That brought the call from the reporter.
Rich is not only a reporter for The Times, she is also a Park Slope parent. She interviewed Joy and me, as well as several other members of our church. She came to Postmark and to story time, and even to a church service. And on, January 20, “Story-Hour Tempest in a Coffee Shop” found its way into The Times.
Good Press
From my perspective, the article was fair and balanced, covering both sides of the debate. The Times quoted one opponent: “I really object to that approach to proselytizing, getting families involved through their children and then extending it to the adults.”
The article also quoted Mel Wohlgemuth who said, “In Park Slope you can get this kind of broad-mindedness that can get very narrow.”
The article also gave me a chance to share, “These events are geared to let people know that we are here and accessible. They don”t have to knock on a church door and meet a stranger to talk to somebody about God, if they get to the point where they want to.”
People across the country read and talked about the article. More important, many in our neighborhood read it too. And still today, the debate continues. We have been brought out into the open, and we are excited to see how our friends and neighbors respond. As a friend of mine said, “You can”t buy that kind of press.”
We love this city and we love Park Slope. I believe that God is in love with our neighbors here, and he is finding unique ways to share his love and reveal himself to them. We believe he wants us to show his love to people, starting with a coffee shop we call Postmark and a tempest we call story time, as well as at knitting groups and book clubs and a worship service called Church!
We believe he”s even pleased when the message is passed on through an article on page B-18 of The New York Times.
Brad Canning is the senior minister of the Church! of Park Slope, Brooklyn. The church was planted by Orchard Group Church Planting.
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