artists understand artists

yesterday i spent about an hour and half talking, laughing, consulting and visioning with janette vanderzaag of groundswell coffeehouse in alliston, on. the venue there is not unlike what i have envisioned for here in downtown barrie - a cultural hub, nurturing creativity and community. she's been paving a path there for about 3 years now, and was very gracious in sharing the practicalities and pitfalls that need attending to when trying to open up a business like that.

i walked away with several contact names, great insight into what makes a successful coffeehouse tick, and encouragement that this kind of ministry resonates with all sorts of people.

and she delivered a pretty mean cup of hot chocolate - rivalling my good friend marty's product.

anyway, business plan here we come! and do check out groundswell, if you happen to be swinging through alliston.

artists understand artists

add me to the campbell soup

i've been having many encouraging meetings with various people who seem to share some of the vision of the voodoo lounge (... on another note altogether, i was thinking about other possible names yesterday and wondered about "the soularium" - so i googled it, and found that it is in use by a number of bands and is also the designation for a supercool project put on by campus crusade - check it out here).  just yesterday i happened to chat it up with someone at a funeral who worked with an old friend of mine at a local bakery ... and this friend is interested in seeing a coffeebar type venue open up here in barrie.  

did i mention that he's a baker?

as in baking stuff?

yummy.

and today i had this incredibly energizing meeting with don campbell and matt campbell.  this father/son dynamic duo shared with me their family's vision, nurtured over the last several years, of creating a venue for local musicians and music lovers that would become the foundation for a kingdom community.  we shared dreams, and i think that we all felt that we were reading from the same page.  man, it was inspiring to hear where their hearts are at, how they see that it's not about Christ-followers trying to make a dent but about reclaiming everything beautiful and creative and passion-filled about the world back for God.

i just love it when a plan comes together.  cause believe me, that's what it's feeling like.

add me to the campbell soup

of chickens and eggs

just a quick thought ... instead of planting a church and trying to build a community, i would love to plant a community and see a church emerge ...

of chickens and eggs

a wild and woolly week

well, the basement flooded again (which means the office that i finally moved back downstairs got moved upstairs again ...!), it was gus' 2nd birthday yesterday, and i got two very intriguing and separate phone calls that have bearing on the voodoo lounge.

the first call was from a colleague in ministry whose congregation is thinking of launching a satellite site. they are a fairly traditional worshipping community who are considering of starting a coffeehouse venue, but they need someone to provide leadership for it. i was told that if i was interested, it would provide the kind of partnership where my "hands won't be tied". plus they already have some money set aside which they could funnel toward this new venture.

the second call came from an acquaintance through my former church home, trinity community church. this man and his son have been dreaming for a little while about trying to get something rolling in the downtown sector of our city, which would be a venue for local musicians to showcase their talent. he'd heard through a mutual friend that i was very much interested in facilitating a lab for creatives, and so we may be sitting down to chat about sharing visions.

i wonder if maybe the legs are finally getting underneath this wild dream.

a wild and woolly week