Nevertheless, every Thursday morning Pastor Thomas indulges himself in a steaming cup of java at local coffee houses.
“I’m a tea drinker all the other days of the week,” said Thomas, the associate pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. “I’m a weirdly patterned person.”
It does seem a bit unusual – akin to a vegetarian ordering tofu at a barbecue joint. But it turns the pastor’s weekly coffee klatch is all about prayer. Yes, prayer.
Every Thursday morning, Pastor Thomas puts on a clergy collar and sets up shop in a local coffee house. He sets out a little sign that reads, “Free Prayer,” and then waits to see who God sends his way.
“I’m humbled all the time by the way that the Spirit works,” the pastor told me. “God is working to give people the courage to say, ‘All right – I’m going to take this pastor up on this offer.’”
And they have – by the hundreds.
The “Free Prayer” program started quietly last summer – inspired by a word of advice Pastor Thomas had received from another member of the clergy..
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5 comments:
Good for him!
I'm sure he really gets blessed in the process.
Pastor meeting people where they live. Amen!!
"Marketplace" ministry.
Way better than waiting for them to wander in to your church (which most of them will never do.)
What killed church for me was the MEGA church where everyone forgets your name and there has to be 3 different services to rake in all the money...whoops...I mean preach to all the people.
when Pres. Osama finds out, this will end
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