More history.

Yes my friends that is 144 S. Mason. Looks a little different these days. Just seeing the front of the building shows how much work went into transforming the space into Everyday Joe's.

And there is more to come. We all love before and after pictures right?

Why Everyday Joe's?

The question often comes up from those who discover Joe's, "How did this place come about?" And if they want the long story I have to begin by talking about a church whose name was Joshua's Crossing. It was a church started back in the "GenX" movement that churches went through in the late 90s. Joshua's was a church plant of Timberline Church, which started in 1999.


Joshua's Crossing began as a church that met in night clubs around town. Over time the church evolved and needed a permanent building. In 2002 a building on Mason Street was discovered. For years it had been Operation Electric. An appliance warehouse and service center. Through a lot of hard work and time the space at 144 S. Mason was transformed into a church. Exposed brick and high ceilings gave the space a lot of character. The church met Sunday nights. The rest of the week the space sat empty, dark, and cold.

The man who started Joshua's Crossing, Paul, always had an idea about a church. Paul dreamed of building a church that "smelled like a coffeeshop (inviting), sounded like a concert (quality), and felt like an opera (passionate)." So it was natural for the church to use the space as a coffee shop six days a week. It was a vision of a church as a servant to the community through the relevant cultural offering that a modern coffee house provides. And that is the seeds of Everyday Joe's.

To be continued...

It's Quiet, But Not Too Quiet.

Currently as I post this it is 3:30PM on the day before Thanksgiving. And right now there are two people besides myself in Everyday Joe's. I suspect most people are already on their way home for the holiday. And if they are not, coffee is not on their minds since this is like a Friday afternoon for most. And Friday afternoons are usually pretty slow around here.

They saw when you can not think of what to write that you should simply write the fact that you can not think of what to write. But does that work in a public forum such as a blog? I am imagine it is pretty boring for the reader if the author is just writing about how he does not know what to write. Part of that for me stems from not wanting to get to mundane in this blog. I do want to share the basics of what goes on here at Joe's but should I write things like; Today I made chai, then I dusted around the counters, they I worked on a new sign? No I don't think that would be very interesting either.

One of the reasons I started this blog is because of all the people I have calling or emailing asking about Joe's. Most of the time it is someone or a group of people who want to do something similar in another part of the country or globe. So maybe for a while I will write as if though I am writing a letter to someone interested in doing what we are doing. But the challenge there is that it involves history. History is very tricky. Especially current history. Joe's was created and launched by a lot of people. And all those people have different ideas and thoughts as to the history of the place and their place in that history. I have been around since March of 2003. That is before Joe's opened its doors to the public but long after the ball started rolling. So I will do my best with the knowledge I have and go from there. I do have the advantage of being the one who is writing the history. As always I am open to feedback and comments from all you who were around here at 144 S. Mason in 2002 and early 2003.

Well fair reader hope you have a good Thanksgiving. Take some time to think about all you are thankful for.

Dickens Out.