Material History of American Religion Project

Evangelical coffee bar

Here is the coffee bar at Willow Creek Community Church, South Barrington, Illinois. Founded in 1975, Willow Creek now attracts over 20,000 worshippers every weekend to its corporate campus-like site in the northwestern suburbs of Chicago. A national pioneer in "seeker evangelism", the church constantly seeks for new ways to attract the unchurched. In 1991 it built a food court next to the auditorium, to provide a comfortable place to eat with and evangelize guests. In 1995 the food court added a coffee bar to appeal to the so-called "Generation X-ers". Before and after the Saturday evening services targeted at this age group, Food Service Director Frank Scimeca reports, one can see young people "sharing cappuccino and sharing Christ." The photo was taken by Daniel Sack as part of his research for "Whitebread Protestants: Food and Religion in American Culture."

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