Church and Community: The Perfect Blend
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Here at Serve Your Local Schools, we love to share stories from across the country of the many creative ways local churches are engaging with their school communities. The latest comes from Inverness where one church is using it’s coffee shop to teach pupils new skills.
King’s Church recently welcomed pupils from Culloden Academy to their Factory Coffee House as part of a barista training course. Pupils spent the week learning how to make the coffee shop’s signature drinks menu and on the final Friday afternoon of the course the team of young people were tasked with taking over the running of the coffee shop.
Pupils even had the opportunity to create their own drinks; with the pick 'n' mix and apple crumble milkshakes quickly becoming the talk of the town.
One school staff member described the ‘Friday Take-Over’ as, “a fantastic way to end the practical section of the barista skills course with students “taking over” Kings Café in Culloden. The students did brilliantly, making and serving coffees to all the customers. Everyone should be really proud of themselves.”
Through its social enterprise, The Kings Community Projects, the church established two coffee shops as spaces for the church and the local community to share life and grow together all over sweet treats and delicious drinks.
More recently the project signed up for the The Scottish Government Young Person’s Guarantee! The YPG bring together employers, partners and young people, with the aim of connecting every 16 to 24 year old in Scotland to an opportunity. This could be a job, apprenticeship, further or higher education, training or volunteering. The barista training course is one such example of the church project’s commitment to developing the young workforce, an integral part of the curriculum for many schools.
It’s evident that this particular Factory Coffee House project not only helped young people develop their life skills and grow in confidence, but it also provided an opportunity to build community and reach out to local residents through working in partnership with the school.
While not every church will have it’s own coffee shop, every congregation will have a unique array of gifts and talents at their disposal that could be shared with local pupils. Perhaps members with an interest in gardening, cooking, sports or arts and crafts. The list really is endless.
If you’d like to share your skills and passions with your local school community and are looking for some inspiration why not check out our simple, medium and grand ideas.
