The Gospel According to Starbucks

What I’m reading:

The Gospel According to Starbucks. This is a delightful and thoughtful study by Leonard Sweet on how the Starbucks corporate culture has not only (consciously or unconsciously) adopted what should be everything good about Christian evangelism, but has also captured the very essences of what we humans need to center our lives.

I just finished leading a discussion on this book in a number of Sunday School classes this summer, and it worked very well as a good read and good discussion book.

The book focuses on Starbuck’s passion for coffee that has become so entrenched that it has become a cultural icon.  The author proposes that this is a passion that Christians – or any other people of faith, for that matter  – should be able to translate into a passion for our faith.

The last chapter about the history of coffee is a fascinating walk through millennia of culture, starting in China and moving across the globe (and civilizations) to the US.

Bottom line – humans crave connection with each other, and coffee is a cultural touchstone to help us accomplish this connection.

Reminds me a bit about the goal of this website:  Coffee, conversation, and … connection.