'Ground Breakers' The Chinook Assembly launches 'coffee with a purpose' ministry

 

June 14, 2017

Steve Edwards Photo

Church members at the Chinook Assembly began serving 'coffee with a purpose' in late May. Through coffee sales before and after Assembly activities and services, the Ground Breakers ministry raises money for local and global missions. Labor to do the remodel and material costs for the project were provided through Pastor Josh Seymour's participation in the Water Tower Network.

Reporter's note: If you happen to be near the Chinook Assembly, at the corner of West Fourth and Pennsylvania in Chinook, and smell coffee, you are enjoying a whiff of 'coffee with a purpose.' The new ministry called Ground Breakers is described on the church website as "a donations-based coffee shop operated within Chinook Assembly for the purpose of giving to missions both locally and globally, so that Jesus Christ may be known everywhere!" How the Assembly started the ministry is a story itself. Here's part of the story.

The Water Tower Network and Ground Breakers,

a short history

Chinook Assembly's pastor, Josh Seymour, is fairly new to the church in Chinook, having served prior as a youth minister at the Havre Assembly. Last fall Seymour was invited to join a cohort (group of young pastors of rural churches) to participate in the Water Tower Network. The Water Tower Network is a combination of people who are members of Northplace Church, in Sachse, Texas (Dallas suburb), Lonesome Dove Ranch (a Christian camp and conference center in Texas) and the national Assembly of God's Rural America Ministries (RAM). The pastors spend a year building relationships with cohort members, learning about resources from the sponsoring organizations to help rural churches and sharing the challenges and rewards of serving rural congregations.

Pastor Josh explained, "The head pastor of Northplace Church, a huge urban church, has a passion to help rural churches. He especially wanted to create learning opportunities for rural pastors to better serve their congregations and communities." Josh explained, "The Water Tower Network name came from the fact the pastors come from towns where the dominant structure, from a distance, is the water tower."

This is the fourth group of pastors to go through the program. The first three years the program was held in the Dallas area. Pastor Josh's cohort group meets every other month in the Rapid City, South Dakota area. He said, "The programming and lodging is paid for by people who support the program. Network officials decided to have a program that was closer to this region and minimize the travel costs to the pastors. They're bringing the program to us." For the final meeting, this fall, the group will meet in Dallas to worship and celebrate at the Northplace Church.

One of the purposes of the pastors gathering is to provide resources that the large church and conference center have to offer-especially providing contacts with people who have special skills or talents. Pastor Josh explained how the Chinook Assembly got a coffee ministry, thanks in large part to the skills of a group from Texas. Several teams came to Chinook in late May to remodel a space for the espresso bar and help get the 'coffee with a purpose' ministry going. All the connections were through the Water Tower Network program.

It all started with a used espresso machine

Pastor Josh said, "The Chinook Assembly acquired a used espresso machine several years ago. It was used, periodically, for special events but never really had a defined purpose. We began thinking about ways we could use the espresso machine to help expand how we fund missions locally and globally. We came up with the idea of 'coffee with a purpose.' At one of the Water Tower Network gatherings I asked if someone from Northplace Church or Lonesome Dove Ranch could help us. Both groups sent teams to help us do the remodel and they paid for all the materials to make a new coffee room."

The new coffee room is on the main floor, just off the sanctuary of the church. It was once the break room when the building housed the Milk River Production Credit Association. A local member removed a wall that created a larger room. The crews from Texas spent about a week replacing counter tops, adding plumbing for the espresso machine, replacing the flooring and painting the new room. One of the team members, from Lonesome Dove Ranch, stayed through Sunday to preach at the Sunday worship and celebrate the first use of the new coffee room.

Pastor Josh said, "Some people in the community have asked if we will have the stand open other than before events and services at our church. We are operating a ministry, not a business. We'll only use the stand before and after our regularly scheduled activities." This summer the espresso stand is open from 9:30am-1:00pm on Sundays and 5:00-6:00pm on Wednesday evenings. The suggested donation is $4.00 per cup and all proceeds above the cost of supplies will go to missions. Welcome to 'coffee with a purpose.'

You can learn more about the Chinook Assembly programs (including Ground Breakers) and times of activities by visiting their website at http://www.transformchinook.com or call 406-357-2425. The church is office is just off West Fourth Street and is staffed most days.

 
 

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