Back to Basics - The Starbucks Church

I was very intrigued by an event that happened yesterday across our nation. At around 6:00 pm local time every Starbucks store in the U.S. was closed for approximately three hours so an estimated 135,000 employees could attend a back-to-basics training session. Their training consisted of watching a video message from Howard Shultz, their Chief Executive Barista, and being reminded of the simple yet important mechanics of brewing the perfect cup. They were also given a pep-talk and reminded of the importance of the customer experience.

I wouldn't consider myself a coffee connoisseur by any means and yet I would agree that Starbucks does deliver a consistently good 16-ounce-double-shot-mocha-hold-the-whip. I have a couple of friends who feel closer to God in a Starbucks than just about anywhere else. In fact, I meet with one of those friends at a local Starbucks every week. We used to meet at a Moxie Java that was walking distance for him but when a Starbucks opened up just down the street he insisted that we meet there instead even though it meant a good 5 minutes of additional drive time for us. The things we do for our friends...

I visited a Starbucks today because my wallet was too fat. Not with money, unfortunately, but rather with several plastic gift cards I'm still carrying from the holidays. I still had $1.35 on a Starbucks card that I needed to get rid of so I could thin down my wallet and avoid a trip to the chiropractor. My drink was perfect and my customer experience was good too. The barista greeted me with a smile and got my drink order started while I waited for the cashista to come to the register. I wanted to talk with him a bit about the training from the night before but, ironically, he was a little to busy to chat with the customers so I just got a few quick responses.

Part of the campaign was a new motto: "Your drink should be perfect, every time. If not, let us know and we'll make it right." I appreciate consistency and quality but in reality I'd put up with a lesser quality drink for a better overall customer experience. I'm sure that Howie reads my blog regularly so here are my suggestions for improvement:

• Turn down the freakin' music. When I go to Starbucks it's usually so I can visit with a friend. It would be really cool if I could actually hear them talk.
• Remove those torture devices you have around the tables and replace them with some comfortable chairs.
• Introduce America to Teh Tarik (pulled tea). You make a good Chai but if you added Teh Tarik to the menu... Dang!
  

I think closing the stores for this training was a bold move. I liked it and it made me wonder what it would be like if we did something similar in church. It seems that so many churches these days are compromising the basics in order to run their churches like a corporation. I understand the pressures that drive a church, especially larger ones, to be run more like a business. However, we can never afford to trade relational basics for a rigid corporate structure in a community of believers. Isn't this what Starbucks did? They slowly traded away the things that made them truly great in the first place and their customers began to seek out the smaller coffee houses with the atmosphere that Starbucks used to have before the advent of the automated machines. Before their employees became jaded assembly line workers that never knew the Starbucks that existed before it traded its culture for the bottom line.

Now, I'm not suggesting that we put a big sign on the door on Sunday morning that says, "Church is closed for training, come back next week", but what if we lay leaders and pastors got together for some back-to-basics training? Basics like these from Robert Fulgrum's book entitled "All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten":

• Share everything.


• Play fair.


• Don't hit people.


• Put things back where you found them.


• Clean up your own mess.


• Don't take things that aren't yours.


• Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.

At first glance that seems like a rather unsophisticated list. It's nothing like what you might find in someone's magnum opus on church leadership with 99 principles guaranteed to propel your staff and congregation into the next wave of post-modern evolution. And yet, I have to laugh when I think about one of the issues that is discussed most frequently amongst the leadership of my church, namely the policies and procedures associated with coffee. Hot topics include:

• Who gets to use the coffee bar and/or equipment?


• When is it appropriate to use the good coffee versus the coffee for the masses?


• Whe gets coffee for free and who has to pay?


• Who's responsibility is it to clean up the coffee decanters?

I've seen all of the principles on the list above violated over the coffee issues with the possible exception of "Don't hit people".

Perhaps I can spiritualize things a bit more. How about these basics from Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount according to Eugene Peterson's "The Message"?

• You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.


• You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.


• You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.


• You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.


• You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.


• You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.


• You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.


• You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.

I too have been found guilty of putting policies, procedures, and programs ahead of people and I am thankful for the reminder that I need to put people first. In his book entitled "Revolutionary Leadership" my pastor, Tri Robinson, teaches us that structure should serve the culture and never the other way around. That is a basic principle that Starbucks and I should always remember.