In the 20 years that my husband, Chris, and I have been members of St. Stephen’s, we’ve seen many new offerings take root and thrive, but none of them have excited us more than the idea of a community coffee house right here in our church home.
As our children have grown and changed, so have our family’s needs. We now need a place where they can study independently, where they can meet up with friends, where they can chat casually with clergy and staff. We need a place that offers healthy afternoon snacks or an easy Saturday lunch. We need a place to meet with other parents, with church committee members, and with neighbors.
We all need a place--to gather, to unwind, to connect. A café at St. Stephen’s will help make our complex lives a bit simpler by eliminating the need to run somewhere else for a coffee or a snack before coming into the building for a meeting or event. Need to drop off your middle schooler early for a church activity? No problem--now they have somewhere to go.
This vision requires financial support from individuals, like you and me, for it to take flight. As you may have heard, the funding for the café project will not come from the operating budget of our church. It will require a group of donors to make a financial investment to fully build out this space.
I hope you will join Chris and me with a gift of $1,000 or more, but please know that donations of every size are needed. Your contribution to this project will help provide a safe, comfortable and enjoyable space for us to connect with each other. Much like the Farmers Market @ St. Stephen's and Sunday Community Suppers, the café will be open to everyone in our community and will likely become a popular, peaceful meeting place.
Together, we can make this happen. We can do this. Will you join us?
Sincerely,
