Cafe Fulcrum

Yesterday we had a meeting of the team that is working to launch the Fulcrum Community. This a group of dedicated individuals and families who have committed to doing the necessary work to gather a new community of faith in the North Austin/Round Rock area. I love these people and I thank God for them every day.

As we were evaluating what we’ve been doing over the past few months, the consensus was that Cafe Fulcrum is the best thing we’ve done so far. We’ve had three of them, all of them at Star Co. Coffee, a coffee house in downtown Round Rock. The idea behind Cafe Fulcrum is to create a middle space kind of environment that is bigger than a small group, but smaller and more informal than a large group worship gathering. It’s a combination of food, live music, and short teachings about how the Fulcrum Community fits into God’s dream for the world.

It was initially designed to be a mixer. We invited all of our friends and contacts with the hope they’d come and meet each other and get more information about what Fulcrum is all about. Each one has gone really well. We’ve had new people join us every time and we’ve had people come back more than once. Both of these are huge wins for us. We’ve also had a few people who come to the Cafe end up in a Home Group, our weekly groups that meet in homes. Another win.

We’ve had people attend who have been going to a church most of their lives and we’ve had people join us who’ve never been a part of an organized community of faith. We’ve even got a few who are burned out on church as we know it, but still love Jesus and long for some spiritual community. The feedback from all of these different groups has been overwhelmingly positive. They are enjoying exploring spiritual issues and hearing more about the Kingdom of God without the formality of walking into a church building and sitting through a church service. As one person put it, “it’s not stuffy and preachy.” The emphasis at Cafe Fulcrum is definitely on building relationships, rather than putting on a “church show.” (I’m in no way throwing rocks at church buildings or services. I’m reporting the feedback I’m getting from people who aren’t in the habit of going to church services in church buildings or who are trying to get out of the habit of doing so.)

We’re discovering there is something wonderfully natural about walking into a coffee house on a Sunday morning, grabbing a cup of coffee and a breakfast taco, and connecting with others who are searching for something “more” in life.

After about 15 or 20 minutes of conversation, someone begins to play some music. The first time it was local artist, Grace Pettis. The last two times it’s been our new teammate, Patrick Jones. At the last Cafe, Patrick did an amazing job of transitioning us into a moment of worship when he invited us to sing with him a song he wrote. Turns out it was a song about God and we sang it together and it was worship. It was simple and beautiful and it gave me a vision of what Cafe Fulcrum can become. I got up after Patrick and did my best to summarize the storyline of the Bible in less than 15 minutes.

We’re going to do another Cafe this Sunday. I expect there to be hints of worship and glimpses of God’s glory in Star Co. when we gather. We’ll eat some food and meet some new people. Patrick will invite us to join him in singing some God songs. I’ll talk about Jesus. Only Gods knows what will happen after that.

I love it, and I hope God does too.

Come check it out if you’re in the area.