They sit around small tables, enjoy a hot drink, and worship God. It's called the Café Church—a place where people come to praise God in a relaxed atmosphere.
They sit around small tables, enjoy a hot drink, and worship God. It’s called the Café Church—a place where people come to praise God in a relaxed atmosphere.
They come from mixed backgrounds—most are not members of the Seventh—day Adventist Church; others are not members of any denomination. Some had never set foot in a church service.
The Café Church in Copenhagen, Denmark, begun in 1998, grew out of a youth church-planting movement in the country. Bettina Wiik and Frank Rechter, pastors of the church, know that cafes are a popular meeting place for young people and came up with the idea of combining a cozy environment with a worship atmosphere.
People are introduced to the Café Church during “Café nights,” a time for talking together and listening to various bands. “They ask questions and say, ‘Is this your church? I want to try it,’” Wiik explains.
Many various topics are covered during the sermons. Church pastors focus on peoples’ needs and finding what the Bible says about those needs. They focus on lifestyle and health, and they talk about the state of the world. The music, however, is what seems to touch people the most.
“Music plays a big role,” Wiik says. “People in the street come in the worship service and listen. They really get caught deep in their hearts. The Holy Spirit is speaking to them through that.
“We’re connecting with people,” she adds. “Even though the music isn’t what you hear on the radio, there’s not as big of a gap as an organ would be for them.”
Prayer is another big part of the life of the Café Church. “Sometimes people feel the Holy Spirit prompting them to go to prayer,” Rechter says. “They don’t know what prayer is. They just know, ‘I need to go to this.’”
Café Church services were originally held in a small room in the basement of the main Ebenezer Church premises in the heart of Copenhagen. As attendance grew, Café Church leadership realized they had a space problem. So the new church congregation moved upstairs and now two congregations share the same sanctuary—one in the morning, and the other in the afternoon.
The Café Church prefers to hold their services in the afternoon. Rechter says that for the Danes, afternoon is a better time to go out. “That’s the Danish way of life,” he argues. Those who come to Café Church in the Sabbath afternoon hours bear a testimony that worship hours can be different for different congregations.
Rechter refers to the worship style as an evolution in the approach to worship today. He equates the new approach with the power of the gospel. “I think there’s an evolution because the weight of God is filled with power,” Rechter says. “Everywhere you are preaching the gospel, it will grow.”
As with anything new, change means challenge—both for church leadership and church members. Carl David Andreasen, president of the Adventist Church in Denmark, says church leadership received questions about the Café Church’s worship style, which they discussed with Café Church leadership.
“I believe we have profited—church leadership and the Café Church—from our talks together,” Andreason says. “We’re very encouraged by the work of the Café Church.
“One of the things we have learned through this process is that the identity of Adventism is not just found in ways of worshipping, in styles of worship,” Andreason continues. “Not only in styles of music, but in finding our identity as Christians relating to the Adventist message. This has helped us to see in a broader sense what Adventism is today in 2003.”
“I can feel Jesus here,” says one Café Church member. “I can feel the Holy Spirit in my heart. I found Him here, so I’m staying here.”
“I’ve had no experience with churches,” says a young woman excited about her newly found faith community. “This is the first church I’ve known. I like it. It feels like somewhere I belong.”
“For me, it’s so important to preach the gospel,” Wiik says. “To say to people, ‘Hey, get Jesus in your life before He comes.’”
Several other Café churches have developed in Denmark and across Europe. The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Denmark has nearly 3,000 members worshipping in 48 congregations.