Jen's B-Day

A couple of weeks ago we went out for our friend's 21st birthday. There was a lot of drinking. Ok, not really. Jen's Canadian so the big 21 is no big deal. Anywho, we has a good time. We went to the new Indigo (a book store) in Saint John, then to the mall, then to East Side Mario's. Here are some pictures from the night. much love

Well, there were going to be pictures....I'll get them posted when our internet will let me.

Coffee Shop "Church"

In the last post, I briefly mentioned that Jeff and I have come up with the idea of a coffee shop "church." The more we talk about it, the more we realize this is not just some crazy idea that is never going to happen, but it's a matter of when it's going to happen. Without wanting to sound harsh, we both just feel today's "traditional" churches are not relevant to much of society. Yes, they do serve a great purpose. And no, we do not think that all churches are irrelevant and should just shut their doors. We know many great people who work in churches who are making incredible differences in their communities. However, we feel God calling us to work outside this traditional church setting. As also mentioned in an earlier post, I have been reading books like crazy this summer. They have got my creative juices flowing. The product of which is our coffee shop church idea.

Basically, we would open up a coffee shop and run it like any other small business. However, we would also use the building for church. This would get us in the community. It would also mean that any sort of tithes and offerings would not go toward building maintenance or salary, but would be put into the different ministries the church would have going (within the community and globally). Sunday morning services would be more discussion based rather than just listening to one person all the time. There are so many more details we have thrown around, but it's a bit much to cover in one blog. If anyone has any questions, I would love to chat. This has really become a passion of ours. We can't wait to see how all this plays out and see what God has in store for is. It's crazy exciting. Hope everyone has a great day. much love