Place Matters

Since moving to Kona, I have been working part-time at a coffee shop in town. My love for coffee has developed over the years as I have patiently and passionately moved closer and closer to coffee nerd-ism. My pallet has become more refined, detecting nuances between stone fruit or berry fruit flavors, noting coffee that has been over-extracted (leaving a slight bitterness), over roasted (covering the nuances of coffee flavor), or just plain bad quality coffee. I have preferences in brew methods, leaning more toward the clean and crisp feel that my Chemex and Kalita Wave give rather than the muddled and heavy feel of a french press coffee.

The myriad of factors that go into the taste of a cup of coffee is extraordinary. Everything from water temperature to grind size, from brew method to roast date, from water purity to extraction time all change the way coffee will taste. And these are only the factors that I, as a barista, can control. The other end of the spectrum contributes to taste as well: quality of soil, rainfall, sunshine, shade, pruning techniques, coffee varietals, processing methods, storage, and geography. In the last 20 years, many have begun recognizing the unique differentiation of coffee based on all of these factors, much like wine connoisseurs talk about regions, grape varieties, and aging.

Many coffee roasters are moving toward direct relationships with coffee farmers. I have tasted two different coffees of the same variety from the same farmer. The only difference was that one coffee grew on one side of the mountain and the other coffee grew on the other side of the mountain. And the coffees were different. The context in which the coffee grows matters in its outcome, in how it tastes.

Kona coffee is world famous. It holds a type of romantic edge rivaled only by a few other coffees worldwide (Blue Jamaican and Geisha to name two). The majority of Kona coffee is now from a "Guatemala Typica" variety imported in the 19th century. And yet, it's distinct and unique.

If you take the same varietal of coffee, say typica, and move it to a different location, it's going to taste different. The place matters.

At Kona Coast Nazarene, we believe that place matters.  In fact, if you were to spend time on our website you would recognize that its even set up differently than most church websites. We do not start with when our worship services gather, what ministries/programs we offer, or a list of calendar events coming up. We begin with geography. We begin with a place and recognize the importance of how that place will require and produce a unique and distinct expression of the Gospel.

We do not start with the 'goods and services' the church offers to those who wish to consume them. Turning the church into a franchise that markets 'new life' or 'good news' has worked in the past to bring people to us. But we have found over time that this strategy has the adverse effect of creating passive observers and not disciples. Furthermore, assuming that what the community hopes for is another worship service that is distinct from the 'other' church down the road only in contextual preaching, ignores- or at least limits- the church's capacity to listen and engage our neighbors' hurts, hopes, and cultural histories. We have also seen that over time, the people have just stopped coming. Perhaps its time for us to stop assuming people will come and for us to start going to them.

If you take a church of the same denomination, say Nazarene, and move it to a different location, its expression is going to be different. The place matters.

We posit that we shouldn't know the vision for one of our Mission Zones (we have eight distinct communities stretching across the West Coast of the Bis Island) until we've shared meals with those who eat there, labor with those who work there, know the names and stories of those who live there, and joked around with those who laugh there.

Joy and I in the past year have been doing this work of learning the stories of the community and its neighbors. And now, in year two, our vision and our goals are becoming more clear. We're excited to share with you what those are in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, continue to pray with us that God directs our work, provides the means of support for our ministry, and continues to grace us with new and deepening friendships.