I had a chance tonight to take a stroll through downtown Springfield and was pleasantly surprised to find that Springfield Pottery was open well past their usual 6pm closing time.
Now, I’m not much of a pottery expert. My experience with pottery was pretty much limited to making an ashtray in fourth grade art class. (Yes, kids, they actually taught art in schools years ago.) I had always seemed to walk past the store when it was closed so it was nice to get in and see some of the art up close. I’m not going to pretend that I have more knowledge of the work than just saying “nice looking dish” but some of it was really cool to see when you were close to it.
Then I stopped at another place that usually seemed closed every time I was downtown…The Front Porch.
It looked like an interesting little coffee shop/cafe so I bypassed by downtown beverage standby, The Coffee Ethic, to give the Front Porch a try. I walked in and liked the casual, laid-back atmosphere of the decor but something just seemed…off…about it. The staff was polite but not really welcoming and it felt like I was bothering them by ordering a strawberry banana smoothie. Now, the smoothie was pretty good (could have been a little thicker) and the chocolate graham cracker cookie thing was tasty. Still, the atmosphere just seemed weird.
The best way I can describe it would being invited to a party by someone and when you get there finding out they didn’t show up. Everyone else knows each other and were interacting while you sat there nursing your drink and trying not to look so much like an intruder into the festivities. I guess tonight I was just an intruder into their “authentic community.”
There was a guy sitting at a table near me having an intense discussion regarding sin and I think he mentioned C.S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity” at one point. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop but there was really no way not to hear what the guy was saying since there was no one to talk to and I didn’t want to rush through my smoothie. He certainly had the first part of the debate down cold…I just hope after I left he had the second part as stone cold as the first!
Dude, I’m chomping at the bit really hard to say something about the FroPo…
…let me just say I got that same weird feeling when I went in there.
Authentic community my foot. Of the times I went there, I was met with much the same reaction you were met with.
Even if they get some prime real estate in the heart of downtown so anyone can mosey on into your church, only to have them leave because of an uneasy feeling or no one taking the time to interact with them…that real estate has gone to waste.
And so has the message they’re trying to promote, whatever it is. When I went there, there was no real push to evangelize, it was more of a “let’s all come together and unify” community. Real weird vibe indeed.
Its a front for an evangelical group called the Core which is based on the house church movement. The Core hosted a group called Socrates Cafe two years ago at The Radish Infoshop on Boonville St. Attended a few meetings which was interesting at first (nothing pushy religion wise) but I thought something was odd that the leader dude kept deflecting questions/answers that where critical of evangelical christianity. Since it was presented as a philosophical discussion group. I had notice the work The Core on a piece of literature the leader left out and looked them up on the Internet later. Was suprized to find out that it was a church group and they had mine and my gf pix on their site.
Well, that might explain why I felt like an outsider there. If they were having some special thing for their church members I guess I was really was invading their community! Although they had a sign out and it didn’t look like it was a private event.
I think your impressions were probably accurate, Jason—we’ve all had that “get invited to a friend’s youth group and feel a little out of place” feeling before—but I can tell you it’s an excellent bunch of people that run/frequent The Front Porch. Try dropping in on a Friday or some other night when they have live music, and I think you’ll find the vibe more welcoming.
Also, you’d probably do a good job interviewing the head of the Core, Ryan Wiksell. I can’t speak to Shak El’s comments about him (or whoever it was) deflecting questions that challenged evangelism, but I’ve found him to be a thoughtful, insightful guy for the most part.
I would agree with Editor Matt in the fact that the live music does create a different vibe there…but when visiting the place for church/religious purposes, the place carries too much of a post-modern viewpoint for my tastes. Would have to agree with Shak El on the point of it only feeling like a philosophical discussion. Postmodernism and faith don’t mix in my opinion.
Hey guys,
Maybe it makes me a “post-modern” to say this, but I’m really thankful to hear all these viewpoints.
I got to meet Jason last night and had an enjoyable discussion with him. I told him that I struggle a bit with wanting everyone to have a wonderful experience, but I have to put down the control freak in me, otherwise nothing would ever be “authentic” about it. I’d rather some people have a bad experience than for everybody to have a fake experience.
Compound that with the fact that I feel like I don’t even have anything to compare the FroPo to, or model it after. I feel like a little kid sometimes, who found a bike and and didn’t even know what it was, but is trying to learn to ride it anyway.
So thanks for your patience with me, and thanks to those who are giving us all the benefit of the doubt.
Now that I’ve said that, I think I’ll respond to a few line items…
-I sure hope our volunteers aren’t acting put out like that very often. Yikes.
-The Mere Christianity debate was one of the many conversations that just “happens”. Because we have two small spiritual gatherings on Wednesday evenings, that night tends to attract people who like to debate spiritual stuff. I myself enjoy a friendly debate, even an intense one. But it can get too intense even for me sometimes. But it wouldn’t be very “authentic” of me to try to control or curtail stuff like that.
-I am sorry also about Chris’s experience. But he is definitely right about there being no “push to evangelize”. In a way, that’s actually the idea. Here are a few blog posts of mine that flesh out that concept: Missio Dei, Evangelism’s Code of Conduct, Death of a Salesman, League Leader in Total Covnersions
-I don’t see anyone as having “invaded” our community. I hate for anyone to feel that way, no matter what we have going on.
-Shak El… stop by sometime, if you haven’t already. I’d like to remember who you are from Socrates Cafe.
-As for the post-modernism thing, I’ve got another blog post on that for you: Post-Modern Righteousness
Ryan–
I do have to say that even though my experience at the Front Porch was less than stellar (I wasn’t a fan of the reaction I received, or the church’s total take on faith as a whole) but I have to appreciate the fact you responded to all input. That in and of itself says something and at least from me is much appreciated.
I guess we all have to remember what Jesus said, if one is for God they are not against God so we are all in this fight together, so to speak.
Thank you… well put.