Here we are again. Another Lent. Another wilderness wandering. Another start to reflecting on the world via my very sporadic writings. It seems Lent has been the time I feel most compelled to write. Perhaps because of the introspective nature of the season. Maybe it’s just the experience of taking the United Methodist Photo-A-Day challenge and turning it into a post. All I know is here we are again and here I go again.
Day 31: Needs
A local coffee shop posted this picture of a prayer board they have installed. My first thought was, “wow! that’s super cool.” Elsewhere on this blog I have appreciated coffee shops as “third places” and “modern wells” where folks gather to share and do life together. These places, coffee shops, corner bars, gyms, libraries, parks, etc., are places beyond home and work (our first and second places) where one can express one’s needs, especially the need for community.
So, my first thought was one of excitement for a local business that has created a safe space for neighbors to offer up their prayers. Then I had a second thought and a few after that…
Isn’t this what churches are supposed to be doing? Isn’t this what the churches I serve have and are doing? Have the scores of people who put their prayers on this board also shared their prayers, their needs/hopes/dreams, with a local church? Is a coffee shop really an alternative to church? Is it church?
Now, I would much rather people share their needs on a prayer board at a coffee shop than have them not share them anywhere, but is that the only choice? Coffee shop or church (in the more traditional sense)? This feels like a false dichotomy to me. And yet, I keep hearing about the rise of the “nones” and “dones,” those who claim no particular religious affiliation and those who have decided as far as organized religion is concerned, been there, done that. I keep talking to people who used to go to church but who just stopped. They are not hostile to Christianity (or any faith for that matter), but it just isn’t something they think about. It doesn’t feel like something they need.
What truly baffles me is many of our churches also serve coffee. Some serve really good coffee. You could conceivably come into many of our churches, sit in a coffeehouse-like space, listen to some of the very music played in these coffeehouses, read a book or work on a computer, or just about any of the other activities you see taking place in these third places. Ironically, I don’t know many churches though that put up prayer boards. Apps? Got it. Maybe a prayer room? Sure. Write your prayers on a card and drop it in a plate? Standard.
Could it be this coffee shop, likely not unique, has tapped into a different set of needs? A public display of one’s practiced faith perhaps? With so many of churches offering sit-and-get spirituality, does this simple prayer board do something we could learn from in the local church? Low-tech. Public. Simple. Easy. Visible. You don’t have to have any training or special insights to participate in this prayer board, just a willingness to write down your need and pin it up for the world to see.
I wonder if you are part of a faith community, a church perhaps, that has such a board. If so, how has it worked for you? What needs has it helped meet in your context? Want to grab a cup of coffee and share your insights? I know a place with a pretty cool prayer board. I’ll even buy.
Life is better together,
Shawn
Big Rubber Band Ball 