Cleveland — Matt Frye, pastor of Cleveland Community Church, enjoys Starbucks coffee. Soon, he won’t have to go far for his favorite cup of java. The church, also known as C3, is building a 6,360-square-foot bookstore and coffee shop that will feature Starbucks products and equipment. In all, the church is adding 63,000 square feet to its building on Cleveland Road. Besides a coffee shop and bookstore, C3 will get a 2,000-seat sanctuary and 12 classrooms for its preschool and children’s ministry. C3 Café, the coffee shop, and The Source, the bookstore, should open in December. “The vision of it is to provide a place throughout the week that anyone can come hang out, get something to eat or drink and take advantage of our resources,” said Jordan Leino, minister of worship and communications. The church will have volunteers and employees to run C3 Café and The Source, which will eventually be open outside of church hours. The coffee shop will serve Starbucks products, including coffees and specialty drinks, and pastries, muffins, cookies and desserts. The bookstore will carry a variety of spiritual books, movies, music and clothing items. The stores will feature stained concrete floors and soft interior decorations, Leino said. “We want it to be a place for people to come and feel like it is somewhere they want to be,” he said. C3’s growth played a large part in its decision to open the coffee shop and bookstore. When the church was founded in 1998, about 50 people attended services at Cleveland Elementary School. Now, the church has more than 2,000 people attending services on Saturdays and Sundays. “There is nothing like C3 in this area,” Leino said. “A lot of people have driven from 45 minutes away saying, ‘I can’t find anything like this, and this is the place I want to be.’ I think when we show love, people respond to that.” Many people in the community have said they are looking forward to enjoying a Starbucks latte while browsing through the bookstore, Leino said. “People are excited about having something here throughout the week, more so than just our Saturday and Sunday services,” he said. “To have this is really going to be cool.” On Tuesday, the Johnston County Planning Board will hear a request from the church to rezone the land for business use.
can't you read between the lines???? Drinking Starbucks saves lost souls !!!! (or at least it does mine Monday through Friday, coffee in general that is)
Maybe thats because that whole section is talking about the coffee shop. probably because it was in reference to a coffee shop.
People talk about how they don't want Religion or peoples views shoved down their throat but when a church doesn't mention reaching out to lost people in a article about a coffee shop people jump all over bout how they are not mentioning saving souls
I just said it was all about the business, maybe I should have said money.. I dont believe a church should be big business... it should be big gospel, plain and simple...
me too! I go to the Global Village M-F...since it's right across the street from work, even better than Starbucks, if you can even fathom that...
I copied this from the Smithfield-Herald site, http://smithfieldherald.com/ Of course, the article could be based on what the reporter asked most about or chose to edit.
AGREED!!!! We went there for a while and made an exit when it become obvious what it was all about!!!!
I go to the coffee mill everyonce in a while, they are pretty good, but I love the white chocolate latta yummmmmy
Yes, you are right...there is nothing ironic or funny about Starbucks being served at church..... shock: ) .....talk about getting jumped all over
See... this is the reason I have found it so hard to find a church home. Stuff like this just makes me want to stay at home and have my own private relationship with God and stay away from the churches.:-(
maybe i should have been more clear. I wasn't saying that you all were jumping all over them because so far nothing rude,offensive or judgmental has been said. I just meant in general. sorry for the confusion
and thats fine too. as long as you have accepted god into your heart and home... I have the same issues about church too. I am looking at a few different ones that are in Archer Lodge to get my son involved into.
