Episcopal Church Foundation Vital Practices

Three Cups of Coffee

by Miguel Angel Escobar on September 13, 2011

This past July, Tim Schenk, Episcopal priest and blogger at Clergy Family Confidential, tweeted “Forget the tea. I should write a best-selling book called ‘Three Cups of Coffee.’ Subtitle: A Day in the Life of Fr. Tim."

As might be expected, I laughed and thought "That's a great idea!" And I agreed with one person's wry response of "Well at least it would be true."

Oddly enough, however, I'm still thinking about the title of Tim's proposed book. In fact, after mulling this over for a while, I to decided to call Tim last week about a slightly different take on Three Cups of Coffee. (He seemed both thrilled and somewhat surprised that I took his tweet so seriously.)

In our call, I suggested that Three Cups of Coffee should instead be about Episcopal congregations taking on global concerns, particularly as they appear at the local level. Stories, for instance, of parishes in Louisville, KY and Minneapolis, MN helping to resettle refugees, or that of the Diocese of Spokane, WA making the connection between local and international hunger. A book, in other words, that would be distinct from its more famous predecessor in that these stories would be 1) true and 2) about communities rather than lone heroes, where local congregations discover a passion for global concerns via the more mundane realities of discernment, committee meetings, vestry votes and yes, cup after cup of coffee.

Would this be an international bestseller? No. Of course not. But it would be chock-full of stories like the following:

Approximately three years ago, the Rev. Brian McVey, an ECF Fellow and rector of St. Alban's in Davenport, IA, learned that a truck stop just 15 miles from his parish was considered to be one of the largest and most active trading posts for human trafficking in the United States. This fact set off a chain reaction which is continuing to transform the I-80 truck stop in Iowa: Brian began a ministry of listening and presence there which has in turn mobilized St. Alban's. This, in turn, has mobilized local law enforcement as well as several larger churches in the area who were surprised to learn that such a small church was taking on such a daunting, potentially dangerous ministry. The Senior Warden of St. Alban's recently wrote “We now have a waiting list of people wanting to serve in a chapel at this truck stop.”

Through this ministry of presence, St. Alban’s has learned many things. Brian noted in his application for an ECF Fellowship that he has learned that this truck stop is the northern stop of many runaways trying to switch coasts. He learned that more prostitution occurs at that site in each 24 hour period than occurs in Las Vegas or Atlantic City. He learned that the largest ethnicity of the enslaved are of Eastern European descent. He has learned much, in other words, but he and St. Alban’s are struggling to find out how they can reach the most vulnerable, namely the human slaves who are being trafficked at the site.

Whether or not Three Cups of Coffee will be hitting the bookshelves any time soon, the idea remains the same. Whatever their size, Episcopal congregations can make a major difference in their local communities around global concerns. Indeed, I believe they can change the world.

To learn more about the ECF Fellowship Partners Program, click here. To read additional coverage of St. Alban's ministry at I-80, click here.

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