Coffee on the Corner is an outreach ministry the Orlando, Fla., RPC began in January. It was the outworking of a heart for the lost in response to follow God’s greatest commandments to “love Him with all our hearts and love our neighbors as ourselves.”

God has placed our church’s meeting place in the heart of downtown Orlando. Our gatherings are just steps from our city’s most notable and beautiful landmark, Lake Eola. I have always had a desire to reach out to the neighborhood where God has placed our church building. I know we are there for a reason, and God has given us such a wonderful opportunity to shine for Him there. This ministry idea also stems from other outreach efforts in the last 30 years: passing out flyers in the neighborhood for social events or vacation Bible school, handing out water to people going to Lake Eola for July 4 fireworks, having a pastor sit outside while he worked so he was available for conversation with neighbors, watching my dad and an elder offering a Bible study in a home in the downtown area and taking the group fishing to provide food for their families, helping the homeless with food or bus passes, or saying hello and inviting people to worship on Sunday morning as they pass by.

Most recently, God has impressed on my heart an urgency to be visible to our Lake Eola Heights neighbors. My husband, Jonathan, and I share the vision for this. Typically our congregation gathers inside its building for worship, meetings, fellowship meals, and most social events. In the past we have had occasional social events, fall festivals, or work days in the parking lot, but mostly we are indoors. Most of our members live in other neighborhoods. I began thinking, Why would we expect our neighbors near the church building to come into our formal setting, which can be intimidating and uncomfortable, when they rarely see us and don’t know us? God can certainly do that if He chooses, but He tells us to “go into all the world and preach the gospel” (Mark 16:15) and “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).

This outreach is one way we are making an effort to go into our neighbors’ comfort zones rather than expecting them to come into ours first. I absolutely believe, though, that as we are faithful to love others and preach the Word, God will bring people into His kingdom. The Word is faithfully being preached in our pulpit twice weekly. Coffee on the Corner is just another way to get to know more personally those whom God has put around us and to have a greater presence in the community. We trust the neighbors will see God’s light through us as we ask questions, listen, and offer a free cup of quality coffee.

Coffee on the Corner (COTC) occurs once a month on a Saturday evening around 7 p.m. Jonathan and I oversee it, so we plan it to fit around our schedules. We set it up to resemble a quaint outdoor cafe, which is very common to the area. We have three card tables, padded folding chairs, and lanterns with candles. Then we set up a serving table with regular and decaf coffee, which Jon buys from a local roaster. We set out creamer in a thermal carafe to keep it cold, coffee stirrers, sweetener, and disposable coffee cups and lids. A large percolator brews the coffee, and we plug it in with an extension cord through a window so the coffee will be hot; we keep the decaf in a carafe. A pad of paper is available to write down names of new contacts for our own memory. We have business card magnets ready to hand out with the church’s picture, name, pastor’s name, phone numbers, and time of worship. We usually hand those out as people leave rather than handing them out immediately, so as to show them we would like to get to know them without any strings attached. We often have cornhole or bocce ball set up for people to play if they want.

As people walk by, we offer them a cup of coffee. Some stop; some don’t. We advertise the event on a Facebook page local to the community. A Neighborhood Watch person told us about the page the second time we had COTC. She walked by us on her way to dinner at the lake and asked, “What is this? It’s so nice!” We told her “We’re just here getting to know the neighbors.” She loved the idea and told us we should advertise on the community page. I have no doubt God brought her by. That has been a very good tool. The neighborhood is tightly knit and very active socially with each other. Many people respond on Facebook to the ad. We also have a banner on the corner that we display the morning of the event.

We introduced COTC to the congregation by incorporating it into an already established annual event called Movie in the Lot. We invite the neighbors via flyers and show a movie (family friendly and often animated) and have food and fun snacks in the parking lot. Because it is an outreach event also, we thought it would be a good time to introduce COTC. We asked our young adults to manage it while the majority watched the movie. Now it has become its own event. We announce the date, put it in our bulletin, and ask the congregation to consider helping and attending. Each time, God has provided the support we have needed.

God has brought people each time we have held COTC. A big key to it is prayer. We pray together during the month leading up to the event both at women’s Bible study and worship times, that God would bring who He wants and that we would shine brightly for Him and be ready to share Him with others. Outreach can be discouraging if we do not see direct results from it, but we like to look at it another way. My dad modeled this for me. God calls us to do the work. He causes growth and builds His kingdom. Our job is diligence in prayer and love for our neighbors.

We have been doing this for nine months and have met many new neighbors. The woman across the street has come every single time with her cat. She attended a worship service once. Her roommate has joined us on occasion. We have met at least 25 people from the neighborhood since January. Out of the blue (as God often does), a couple who we had not met came to worship recently saying they were looking for a church to be committed to. That is rare. We asked where they were from. They said, “Less than a mile from here in the neighborhood.” They did not even know about COTC. God is so good! He uses many means to grow His church. They have been coming consistently to worship for a few months. So if there are 20 people that come, I’m excited, and if there is only one, I’m excited as well. God is faithful. He has a perfect plan to bring people through His doors however He chooses.

Suggestions for any ministry

▶ Pray about it as a church;

▶ Be faithful and consistent working hard in the ministry “unto the Lord and not for men”;

▶ Remember that God brings the growth and fruit.

On that note, please pray for Coffee on the Corner at Orlando RPC and that God will continue to bless it and build His kingdom through it.

Jonathan and Dianne Schaefer are members of Orlando, Fla., RPC. They have four children.