why I do, what I do…

She was about 5 years old, smiling from beneath long auburn curls, clutching a teddy bear wearing Marine dress blues. We were chatting and laughing. She told me she was leaving on a plane to go to El Paso (TX).

How much fun! We talked about going “sledding” on the white sand dunes of White Sands Missile Range (in New Mexico).
We started talking about her bear- as her beautiful mom was sharing that all of this wee child’s parents (mom, dad and step-dad) are active duty Marines. Of course, I thanked the mom for her service and shared I was a Viet Nam Era Veteran.
Soon it came out that the reason for their visit to El Paso was to attend the little girl’s father’s funeral; who was killed in action in Afghanistan just this last Friday.
The tears started to well up in my eyes. The little one continued to share that she was the “primary” (beneficiary), and that she was going to get her daddy’s flag at the funeral.
I asked and then hugged them both; and said I would be praying for them this week.
As they were departing we said we would see each other again soon.
I certainly hope so.

Lord, please wrap your loving arms around this charming young child and her mom as they deal with giving so much to preserve our country.
________________________________________
This is part of the reason why I work as a simple barista at Starbucks.
In my life, random people I meet tend to simply share rather important things that are happening in their lives. It just happens. Is it because I take a little bit more time and listen to what they are actually saying? I am not sure. All I know is that this type of thing happens over and over and over again in my life.
- A man whose sister was dying of congestive heart failure.
- Another man, whose dog was suffering from cancer and ultimately died later that week.
- A woman who was dying of cancer (I later attended her funeral)
- Another person, whose best friend has relapsed with aggressive brain cancer.
- I sang Happy Birthday to someone (I do that often), who later shared I was the only person who acknowledge her special day.
- The woman whom I choose to hug, who said it was the first time someone had even touched her in years.
These are just a few of the stories I hear.
So why do I work as a simple barista? Because that is where God wants me to be – touching people’s lives in a seemingly random place like Starbucks.

no longer ENHANCE team leader...

Look at what God has done now!


Last week at XC Ministries.

This is a really big deal. For me it is the best stage design yet. But, this is NOT something that I designed or implemented. But this was created by a super sweet person named Allison Sovey.

But what I love more than that is engaging skeptics in relationship. It just comes naturally. It often happens at Starbucks. I call it Starbucks evangelism. I meet people, become friends with them wherever they are at in life. I really seem to be able to “hear” when people have an interest in life that could be a “hook” into me inviting them to try out XC Ministries. And God does the rest…

Now, about Allison. I met Allison when I started working at Starbucks 4 years ago. She was an de-churched person who had completely stepped away from God in her faith journey.
She joined the ENHANCE stage design team almost a year ago. She has since accepted Jesus as her personal Lord and Savoir and hasn’t looked back since. It’s been a fantastic journey.
But you know what? It has been just so much fun to see her utilizing her passion and gifting, while growing in her new relationship with God.
As of a couple of weeks ago, the mantle of ENHANCE team leadership has been passed on to Allison. It is just so darned exciting. I can barely contain myself.

I have been changing up what I do at XC ministries. More about that later. But, I will still work along side Allison on the ENHANCE team, because I just flat out love it.

I am Dorothy (vicar of vibe) no longer the ENHANCE team leader @ XC.
My mission statement is “love God, loves others, it’s simple…”.
My vision is to “entice the skeptic, challenge the lukewarm & ignite passion in the believer (to go into the world)”
I LML

I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
with selfless faith, selfless faith…
- Hosanna by Hillsong United

real time apps...

One of my favorite blogging pastors is Pete Wilson. His most recent post "How Not To Get Caught Having An Affair", about a new phone app out called “TigerText”. They say it’s perfect for cheating spouses, shady politicians, sexting teens, and people who send a lot of stupid texts while drunk.
It really got me thinking about real time apps...how we walk with people through life.
It's no big secret I love friending skeptics, seekers, unchurched, dechurched, pierced, tattooed disenfranchised peeps. I always tease that I don't know why, but they seem to like me too...despite being a "slightly fluffy, goofy grandmother of 5".

I thought I'd share a real time life app story.
A young (currently dechurched) lady in my world, who is living with her boyfriend, wanted to talk alone.
She prefaced the conversation with "I know you will be upset". My thoughts were all over the place with the possibility of what she was about to share.
When we finally got to sit down, she told me she had taken two pregnancy tests and thought she was pregnant. I could see the fear and pain reflected in her eyes as she was brave enough to share this bombshell.
She knows me, about my faith journey and knew in her heart where I stand on this topic. I can only imagine what she thought I was going to say.
I gently explained while this wasn't a good situation, that I still loved her no matter what and was going to be by her side the entire time.
As I asked her about what she was thinking about her options, she talked about the struggle but knew in her heart she would keep the baby. I rejoiced with her and explained that every baby is cause for rejoicing.
She was so brave. She risked judgment in sharing.
Being involved in peoples lives means being willing to "get our hands dirty" because real life is messy. I am grateful we are journeying together. I am grateful she trusted me.

Now back to Pete's blog post. While I agree this “TigerText” app is indeed sad...as we register our shock and dismay, the reality is this is the way people think in the brick & mortar and cyber world. Outside and (some) inside the church.
What captivates me IMHO is this is evidence that we need to be in the world, getting involved in people lives. A "real life app" so to speak.
I would be interested in hearing your thoughts, on how we can be involved in peoples lives and being there at crucial crossroads to actual impact their journeys.
What if Tiger had someone like you, walking with him through life's messiness? Someone who really cared about him, not his celebrity status. Someone who because of real relationship, was able to speak truth into his life.
Question: How do we walk with people, even as they are making bad choices?
How do we balance speaking the truth, while not judging?
It would also be a great hook for a message series...

the best thing...

Everything I do is geared to my life's mission

love God, love others, it's simple...

Why I do what I do (styling the stage, production, etc) is to

entice the skeptic, challenge the lukewarm and ignite passion in the
believer (to go into the world)

This young lady (in the picture above) is a friend I met four years ago while working at Starbucks. We became friends. She had walked away from the church of her youth and God. Completely dechurched. We lost everyday contact, but every now and again, we would touch base, have a cup of coffee and catch up.

She hit me up on fb about 2 months ago and said she wanted to talked about God. We met for lunch and chatted. I invited her to come play with me on Saturday doing a stage set and then come visit CrossCurrent. She has been running back to God ever since.

She loved stage designing (in fact this weeks design was hers); and over the course of two months she has become active and we've had many heart to heart conversations. It has been such a exciting adventure.

After a Core Community meeting last night (kind of like a congregation meeting), we sat in my car and talk for about two hours. The conversation turned to a point where she shared that she was unsure if she was a Christian, and what that really meant. Last Tuesday in her car, after her first creative team brainstorming she gave up her life to God. I simply confirmed what she now believed. In all of her years going to church, she had never been given the opportunity to confess her faith.

People have so many misconceptions about what is needed to become a follower of Christ. We forget to tell them how easy it is to step into salvation. We forget to offer them the opportunity to cross the line of faith.

THIS is why we all do what we do...we may never be able to see the fruit of what we do. But, this is why. I would do this with all of my heart even if I never saw a life changed personally. But God gave me a giant gift last night. He allowed me the honor and privilege of walking with a person into new life.

Sweetheart, welcome into the Kingdom of God. I love you so much, but God loves you even more...

Thank you God for allowing me to be Your instrument of love!

Now it's time to don my green apron and off to Starbucks again, maybe I'll make a new friend today...

team building: the intentional invite (part 2)...

More importantly for me: As I meet people in life who are unchurched or dechurched simply get to know them and their stories. Then I find out if they have any interest in creative ideas (usually people like this are drawn to me). I call it Starbucks evangelism...
Various people I have met at Starbucks:

Woodwork artist (jewelry-furniture): Unchurched gal. Have a thought of a 7 foot tao cross I would like to pay her to create as a stage prop. Just waiting for the money, the right element to introduce the cross.
Metal artist (welding, etc): Dechurched. Same idea. I have some ideas of nice metal sculptures to grace the stage.
Construction: Two guys: one (Dechurched) does commercial housing and retail construction and the second guy (Unchurched) around does home improvement helping others, decks, etc. I have several projects on the burners. Looking to ask them to help in building storage cabinets, stage platform (that piece together like a puzzle and folds flat for easy storage), and stage flats. I am inviting this guy to the fuZion retreat. Either by scholarship or I will pay for him.
Musician (piano): Dechurched Jehovah’s Witness. Prodigy pianist. Plays everything by ear. Waiting for the right elements to include him in.
Animae artist (2): Dechurched. Haven’t figured out how to use them, except maybe designing some graphics for series. Hey, we just got a graffiti artist for our church involved in graphics.
Crafty (needlework): Churched, but very unhappy at her fairly traditional church. Does amazing needle work and really needs people to connect with. If I had had time, I would have asked her to needlework covers for the Seder plates for the Passover element coming up. Still working on getting way more lead time for designing elements. We are only designing 4-6 weeks out currently.
Drama, little theater: Young, dechurched woman I worked with at Starbucks. Loves little theater, particularly stage managing. Still working on getting her involved. Working on creating a volunteer stage manager for behind the scenes. As we do larger productions, there needs to be someone to control what is happening backstage. And someone to direct random volunteers that pop up on stage after church who want to lend a hand.
Costuming: Unchurched. Just haven’t found the right project yet. But, will somehow be involved with dancing and future dramas.
Dance instructor: Dechurched. Working on getting the right elements approved to get her involved.

Have you ever considered looking to invite the unchurched to become part of your team?

javalujah!

How in the world did I miss this?

What if Starbucks marketed like a church? - a parable...

HL: Tim Schraeder

vicar of vibe...

I made a decision years ago…
I am very called to walk with the skeptic, pierced, tattooed and disenfranchised (read: mostly younger) unbelievers of this world.
Everything I do is filtered through this calling.
It is why I fb. It is why I have a cell phone and txt.
It’s why I watch the most popular youtube vid’s, like “Charlie the Unicorn” (very popular with junior high – college age)
I listen to hard rock radio stations. (it’s what all my younger 20 something’s listen to)
I watch reality tv. In fact, I try to watch very new show (on broadcast tv) at least once. I track the most popular shows, like sytycd, Survivor, LOST, C.S.I., etc.
I have connections on deviantart.
I check out simworlds.
I turned down a full time job with my church, because it didn’t fit my giftings and more importantly it would have taken time away from hanging outside of Starbucks where I meet my skeptics.
Then I take all these experiences and try to design worship elements that will connect with these people. As long as it glorifies God, of course.
There are plenty of experiences at many churches that connect with the believer.
I want to reach the lost. Period.
It’s just what I do; it’s what I am called to do….

What are you called to do?

Starbuck's coffee shop.......

That's right. Starbucks on stage...



08/25/08 Revelation Pt. 5 "End of the World"

Another whirlwind week with one week to create this worship set design. Our pastor requested a coffee shop set-up this week. Thankfully, I had planned this out in my head several weeks ago and had already snagged this promotional marketing from Starbucks. It helps to always be thinking ahead.

This is an actually promo set from summer 2008 at Starbucks.

All right; first of all I must confess that I work at Starbucks and do all of our promotional sets at the store. The moment I saw this come in, I knew exactly what I would be doing with it for church. I've actually been carrying the Starbuck's promo in the trunk of my car since the middle of July.
Really! lol!

<-- The promo sign came in pieces that linked into each other. I just purchased a metal tiki torch stand from Walmart for $5.
Stuck in a metal pole, painted black to hold the sign steady. I'm going to try to find some more of these metal stands to use with a pvc pipe system we've built. Especially while they are on sale for the end of summer clearance.

NOTE: Stores sometimes will give away promo materials after it is done. Become friendly with your local baristas. If you like something, ask nicely (in the past I have written people's names and phone numbers on the back of the promo item) and you must show up the day they are throwing it away. Christmas promo sets are sometimes sold at minimal costs after the season is over.

Our producer for this week Dan, had this bistro set of table and chairs at his home.
The lamp is from Ikea.

This will also link to our free giveaway for guests. Each week, we give out a Cross Current logo mug, filled with logo'd m&m's, a Starbuck's giftcard and some info about Cross Current.

As a side note: I tend to carry lots of design stuff in my car. In my trunk, I have several bolts of cloth (that I purchased at the Walmart $1 table), several types of black stools for stage props, boxes etc. I also currently have 6 yellow pool noodles, a hula hoop and a stuffed elephant in the back seat of my car. It's pretty funny sometimes. People will look in the back of my car and actually ask why I have those items in the back seat and I tell them about the cool things that I get to do at church.

What do you have in the trunk of your car?

This is a part of Creative Chaos//25 at Ragamuffin Soul...
________________________________________
FYI: Local outreach opportunity:
While I am talking about Starbucks. Often there is a great opportunity for helping out a local shelter if you can organize the people at church.
Most of the morning pastries are marked out daily. Often there is quite a bit. If you are able to gather a group of people willing to pick up the marked out pastries each day and talk to the manager, you could probably arrange with your local Starbucks to pick the pastries up (sometimes in the afternoon or at the close of business) each day and deliver them to the shelter. Some are willing to do it, others may not. It's a win - win situation.

heaven & why I do, what I do...

Tylor @ man.of.depravity causes me to write and think...
Thank you Tylor!
While the thought of heaven is great, I can not in any way, imagine my life HERE without Christ. I spent way too long not being with Him here.

My deepest desire is to have others know that peace here on earth. I literally cry when I think about all the wonderful people I have come to know that don't know Him. I name them all in my prayers.

Please don’t misunderstand, while I am thankful I am going to heaven, I don’t care much about it. I try to remain focused just on what He is calling me to do here and now.

I recently made the decision to step down from management at Starbucks. Things had gotten way too stressful and my husband wasn’t happy with how exhausted I was. I started working a lot less hours and have contemplated getting another job for more money. I was even asked to put in my application at our church for an admin position. That would have solved the money issue and the health insurance issue. But, the more I pray about it, I realize that I have to keep working at Starbucks. Because that is where God has called me to work. I knew that when I applied at Starbucks.
Why?
I have met so many wonderful people who are far from God and had real God conversations with them. They drop in to see me, ask if I will take my break and talk with them, ask me to hang out after work. These are mostly young, tattooed, pierced, lost, disenfranchised people who seem drawn to me (lol), a fluffy grandmother.
For me, this is way more important that having God conversations with Christians.

At church, I am called to the creative design team. Very specifically to keep us culturally relevant for our community and I design to entice the skeptic.

I work on other things (like our website design). 1. Because it really stinks and I would never intentionally send any of my skeptic friends there and 2. it is something I like to do. But, I would drop that in a heartbeat, if I felt that it was interfering in what God has called me to do.

And if I had to give it all up except one thing, I’m sure that God would want me to be in the world. Taylor, I hear you when you feel you are called to be a pastor. That is awesome. We need bright men like you. But, what specifically as a pastor, is God calling you to do? Is it leading a church? Preaching? Leading worship? Yes, there is a lot of administrative work involved in being a pastor. But, one of the most important jobs I feel for a pastor, is empowering others to works in their gifts. Take this vacation and really take the time off. Don’t answer phone calls, even stop blogging unless it’s what you really want to do (though I will miss you :^). Take the time to be with God and your family. Btw, I don’t feel that stress and anxiety are sins, I think that they are indicators we are focusing on the wrong things. Darn it, I just smacked myself between the eyes (over a whole different subject entirely)…

what is pPod?

What is pPod?

p: p(erceiver) is a personality indicator from the ‘Meyers Brigg’s Personality Indicator’ test. We tend to be VERY creative and ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ type of individual. But you don’t have to be.
Pod: where p’s gather (of course)

pPod ‘s gather together to express a common desire to create 5S (5 senses) experiential worship design. To incorporate all the senses into the worship experience. Visual, sound, touch, smell, emotions, movement, interactive. Everything is designed to glorify God and heighten the worship experience. We also just have flat out fun!

We welcome people that may be interested in helping with any type of experiential worship design. From creative design, execution and logistical set up. Can you laugh, sew, draw, do animae (yes, animae), woodwork, paint, do graphic design, hammer, operate a safety pin, stand there and cheer for others...there is always a need more p's for the Pod.

Quotes heard at pPod gatherings:

Holy flashing light, Batman.

Wait, I’ll go get Jesus, He’ll know which side is fluffy.

You need a ‘stabler’ to put the flannel on the panel.

Don’t run with the scissors, or I’ll throw a fish at you.

We usually meet about 6:30p.m. on Friday evenings. We also work some on Saturday and Sunday mornings. But, not every week. I promise…

I must note that while we work at adding people to the team from our church community, to offer people a place to share their gifts and talents. I actually work harder at being organic and inviting skeptics and dechurched to join us. Kind of like a “gateway” group. *grins* And where do I meet these people? At Starbucks of course…

starbucks evangelism update...

btw..."triple grande breve latte" is coming to visit at Cross Current tomorrow with her husband.
I may need to start yet ANOTHER blog for my Starbucks worship design and Starbucks evangelism thoughts...

starbucks evangelism...

Why I do what I do… I work at Starbucks.

Believe it or not, I feel that God called me to this job. I love working with my partners, I love most of my customers. Just don’t ask me about “grande, 2 raw sugars cappuccino”. Ugh!

I have found that I have had far more conversations about faith (God, JC the whole thing and everything else in between) than I have ever had anywhere else. Including church.

I love talking about peoples faith journeys. People are so hungry for spiritual discussions. As long as they are not feeling judged. I am just really curious and sincerely want to know why people are where they are in life.

Let’s see there is "venti, 7 pump melon, passion tea lemonade": who grew up LDS and is really trying to find what is real and not real.

And what about "venti coffee with hazelnut syrup": grew up Catholic but is feeling very far away from all things God. Drinking, drugging, lots of meaningless sex.

Then there is "double tall vanilla latte": grew up without any faith journey at home at all. She has been investigating pagan (ism?).

Oh and "triple grande breve latte": married, lapsed Lutheran, who needs to talk about having an affair with her co-worker.

Well then, I also have to mention "doppio espresso": who states proudly that they don’t believe in God, but in pirates. Seriously.

The stories go on and on… It’s not my place to judge, but to just honestly love people where they are at. And that is why I do what I do.

starbucks & the third place...

As you know, I work on developing interactive/experiential worship elements and I work at Starbucks. I didn’t event think about it until someone asked the question 'how does your church break down the barriers between the stage and congregation'?

I work to design worship experiences that connect people (to God). Therefore I focus on 5S (five senses) experiential (let them get involved) elements. What I design and how I work at Starbucks are interconnected.

Breaking through the barrier is sort of like working at Starbucks. When Howard Shultz started Starbucks, one of the things they couldn’t quite understand in the beginning is why people felt so connected when they went to Starbucks.

Think about it, even people who don’t drink coffee will usually find something they like (and there is plenty of other drinks there), so they can meet and hang out with their friends at Starbucks.

Here are a couple ways that we could apply Starbucks techniques to church:

Chatter: We chatter with each other a lot (calling drinks out is an intentional tool). The chattering creates an atmosphere of inclusiveness. Before and after worship…chatter (from stage), let people hear your chatter, call out to people (before and after worship). Reach out and meet a new friend each week. Invite people to join you on stage.

Get To Know Their Stories: At Starbucks we really work at getting to know people. Not only their drinks, but as we have time, really connecting with our customers. I could tell you story after story after story about the guests at my Starbucks. We strive to create legendary customer service “one cup at a time”.

For church try to create a connection “one Sunday at a time”. At church I try to meet at least one new person each week, and really take time to get to know them. Even if it is only 5 minutes. And I make it all about them, I only chime in when there is something we “connect” over, like living in New Mexico, love Brazilian food, love Starbucks…

Third Place: We work very hard at creating what we call “the third place” environment. The basic theory behind it is that people need to connect in three places in their lives. Decades ago, those three places were home, work and church. When people started leaving church in droves, they looked for a “third place” to connect. People try bars, clubs, the internet…

I have always been intentional about designing worship elements to “include” the people off stage. I have just never written it all down before. I’m going to have to think more about this, this is a really great train of thought to explore. I need to write a book called “Starbucks Evangelism”.

Books to read: Howard Schulz’s book, “Pour Your Heart Into It” and subsequently “The Great Good Place” and “Celebrating the Third Place (inspiring communities)” by Ray Oldenburg.

legend of the dancing goats...

I didn't write this. I am not sure where I found this, or I would give credit where credit is due...
Someday I will share the story I wrote entitled "Legend of the Dancing Goats"...
Anyway here goes...
I am a pretty avid coffee consumer.
I absolutely love a cup of coffee in the morning, mid day, and sometimes in the evening, too.
I’ve been kidded a great deal about my “addiction” to coffee for years now. If you are one who gets a lot of flack for the amount of coffee you consume like me there is hope!
I came across a story awhile back which describes how coffee can aid in your pursuit of God…no really! His story goes something like this:
There was once a goatherd who noticed that his goats had become increasingly jumpy and jittery. Upon further investigation, he discovered that they were consuming a shiny red berry so he took some and brought it to the monks.
The monks then examined the berry and during their investigation, they discovered that if it was roasted it gave off an invigorating aroma. In addition, when they put the hard berries in water to cool it created a very tasty warm beverage. They then discovered that if you enjoyed this new-found delight, it provided a boost to one’s alertness.
Being astute studiers of the Scriptures, they then began to enjoy this new “gift-from-God” whenever they grew sleepy from their intense studies in the Scriptures which, in turn, allowed them to study even more of God’s Holy Word!
Okay, okay…so it may not be completely true, but it does make for great conversation…over a cup of coffee.

bitter coffee...

I realized some time ago that God calls me to be with his children that are tattooed, pierced and disenfranchised… It started out as unintentional for me (not Him).
I just would go and sit at Starbucks and they seemed to gather around me. Not just the baristas, but the guests also… Now I work at Starbucks.

It thrills me to no end that there are others out there that “get it”.
I see a couple other pastors that hang out also. Good people. Building real relationships, not spouting judgmental garbage.

I must say though, I keep an eye out for the “other” Christians that are not so loving… they hang out at Starbucks also. But they are serving up some bitter coffee.. They are ready to throw an “irrelevant track” in the tip jar (sorry, that may led people to believe there are relevant ones, there are not)…why do those people think that works. Ugh!

Trust me it just makes them not like you all the more…