On a sunny morning my golden retriever Fergus enjoys nothing more than a little alfresco styled fellowship and fuss at a table outside our local coffee shop.Arranging a coffee in the company of Fergus is quite a strategic operation. Last summer he followed me into the shop with a table securely attached to his lead.
However this time the barista saw my predicament. She told me to sit down, brought the coffee and water for Fergus. I was then surprised and delighted when she refused to take any money. Instead complimented Fergus on his good looks!!!
"Surprise and delight" is a core value being adopted by many companies. Michelli in his book The Starbucks Experience accounts how baristas in a America have gone out of their way to create opportunities to do random acts of kindness.
- Memorising customer details such as their pet's name.
- Serving up coffees to a parting business. Then alerting another outlet of the arrival of the business in a new neighbourhood.
Radical means "drastically different from the ordinary practice, outside the normal," and so it provokes practices that exceed expectations, that go the second mile, that take welcoming the stranger to the max. It means people offering the absolute utmost of themselves, their creativity, their abilities, and their energy to offer the gracious invitation and reception of Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations.
Considering our British reserve some would write this off as too risky or even too naive.
However I believe many people are looking for authentic evidence of faith lived out in community rather than what is often regarded as the cloistered experience of Sunday worship.
The good news is that hospitality is not an acquired skill, it's an attitude. It's a brew of the soul. It's a cup easily served .
Is it going to be tall, grande or massimo?
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