"Healthful food and because it feels like home-it's comforting here," she says without hesitation.

Nestled in a community that showcases expensive restaurants, quaint shops, and book nooks, the baronial, stone-laid Adventist church had been overlooked by the hundreds of socialites and wisdom seekers that leisurely stroll its sidewalks. But that changed on December 9, 2001, when Expressly Vegetarian: Taste 'N' See, the newest café on Germantown Avenue, opened its doors.

Now, each weekday between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., well-to-do community members, professionals, stay-at-home mothers, Jews, senior citizens, Hare Krishnas, and professed New Age followers stop by the church for a cup of soup, sandwich, and casual conversation. They peruse the bookcases of healthful-living materials for sale, read a free pamphlet or magazine provided by the church, and savor every bite of their meal.

Expressly Vegetarian attracts an average of 15-20 people daily, most of whom have never entered the church before. "The people who come in are enthused," says Jennifer Schwirzer, the café's manager. "They say, 'Wow! This is so cool! I can't believe you've done this.'"

"This community is into all kinds of things," says church member and café volunteer Dr. Cheryl Schaeffer. "A man came into the café while I was there and gave us two tickets to the art museum. Later a woman who was really enjoying the food learned that the church had recently held a musical concert. "Oh! I would have come if I had known," she told Schaeffer.

Chestnut Hill's pastor, John Peters, points out that the primary benefit the café provides the church right now is that it is building a good rapport with the community. "During the past 10 years or so the community didn't know much about the Adventist Church. Now, not only do they know it's here, but they view it in a very positive image instead of a neutral or benign image."

The Ministry Angle
There's no question that the café is in operation for the purpose of ministry. "We're told that Jesus mingled among men as one desiring their good," explains Schwirzer. "This is a fantastic opportunity to put Christians in contact with nonbelievers, to put them in the way of a relationship. The café is an access point," she continues. "It is very difficult to access nonbelievers. People have so much going on-so much dress, entertainment, materialism, and busyness. Why bother with church? We have to find creative and relevant ways to reach them, and a common denominator we all have is food."

"Our church is located in such an area that the typical people who walk by won't stop in for a public evangelistic event, but they will come to our café," says Lil Yarosh, who has been a member of the church for more than 30 years.

Schaeffer adds, "This is one area these socialites in Chestnut Hill will open up-they [will] step inside our church for food. We just want to lead them to a higher level of eating and nourish them with spiritual food."

Pilot Project Takes Off
The café is a good example of the new paradigm for outreach. In 2000 the Columbia Union Conference's metro initiative, under the direction of Monte Sahlin, union creative ministries vice president, conducted a survey among a sample of the general public in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. According to Sahlin, only 32 percent of the people had ever heard of the Adventist Church, and more than half of that segment did not know anything specific about the church.

Quick Encounters at the Café: A retired judge from Philadelphia who is acquainted with Adventists enthusiastically started coming once a week. On one occasion Mike and Jennifer engaged him in conversation in which he remarked, "No Adventist has ever told me what they believe like you have." John, a bright young man with a background in sales, loves the café so much that not only does he regularly bring friends there, but he once took a stack of menus and started handing them out on the street. "You know we Seventh-day Adventists worship on the biblical Sabbath as you do?" Jennifer asked one of the many kosher Jews that frequent the café. That opener sparked a connection and concluded with the possibility of having a joint worship sometime. Deeply devoted to animal rights, a Hare Krishna couple came to the café, thankful that no animal products are being used. "I let them know that we as Christians care deeply about how animals are treated," says Jennifer. A couple came in, collected a stack of free literature, then inquired about joining the church and how they could send their child to Blue Mountain Academy. Two women who are extremely excited about the café stopped by to purchase one of Jennifer's music CDs. "They wanted to play it on their answering machine," says Jennifer.

With this vast, almost impenetrable mission field, the metro initiative has partnered with the three conferences and 48 Adventist churches in the Philadelphia metropolitan area to develop a "wellness center" in each community across the region. Expressly Vegetarian is a pilot project of the initiative, and one of the goals is to learn from the experience of the Chestnut Hill church and its ministry team.

"The Chestnut Hill church is doing what every congregation in a major metropolitan area must do: it is developing creative, new ways, to reach out to the community where it is located and meet the needs of the residents," Sahlin says. "It is evangelism as a process, not as an event. It provides a presence in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood that is constant, five days a week, 52 weeks out of the year, is appropriate to the culture of this affluent community, and visibly attuned to the needs of the community."

Michael Cauley, president of the Pennsylvania Conference, is amazed how quickly connections are being made. "In just a few short months men and women who have never stepped foot in the church are now finding their way into a place that has stood in the community for more than 50 years."

This kind of ministry has an indirect evangelistic impact. "Can I visit your church?" one woman asked as she stood at the checkout counter. "I invited her to come the following Sabbath, and we have her name and number," says Peters. The café has built a mailing list of more than 200 people, several of whom have filled out an interest survey that reveals things they would like to learn about. As a result, Mike Schwirzer, the church's Bible worker (and Jennifer's husband), has begun cultivating the café friendships for Bible study.

Why She Does It
The majority of the people who walk through the café's doors are unchurched. This factor is one of the top reasons Jennifer, an accomplished singer, musician, speaker, and author, was willing to make food service her priority. When she was asked to lead the café project, Jennifer was managing her own ministry called Michael Ministries-the last thing she wanted to do was cook for people.

"I thought, Oh, I really don't want to get into restaurant work," she says. "But then I realized that a big lack in my life has been ministering to unchurched people. I had been doing this music ministry for 15 years, and it's literally singing to the choir. I felt as though I really wasn't obeying the Great Commission." God convicted her to use her talents to reach the lost, and the venue He chose was food.

"We couldn't have asked for a more ideal situation-a Bible worker and café manager husband-and-wife team." Peters says of Mike and Jennifer.

"I eventually hope to do some concerts at area coffeehouses and churches," says Jennifer, "and maybe even schedule something at the café on a Friday night or something. I have dreams of starting a 'coffeehouse' right at the café, and bringing in various Christian artists. There are so many directions we could take this thing; the possibilities are endless . . . "

The Church Takes Part
Driven by a desire to be Christ's hands and feet, the church and its members have given endlessly to the cause. Right now Jennifer is the only person hired at the café. All other help is voluntary. Many members, like Gretta Brown, have committed one day to help out. "I think the café is a wonderful idea," she says. "Everyone is talking about vegetarian cooking. The café meets a need in our area."

Still others, like Schaeffer, have no kitchen experience but are eager to help. One day she lopped off a chunk of her schedule and headed to the café. "You've got to get used to working in a restaurant," she says. "As I was serving, a woman said, 'My soup is cold.' I replied, 'Yes, your soup is cold. Let me fix that for you!'"

When Schaeffer got back to her office, one of her patients couldn't believe she had been waiting tables and working in a kitchen and even said that Schaeffer shouldn't be doing that. Schaeffer responded, "I just couldn't leave. It's mission right here at home-the asphalt jungles of Philadelphia-and I want to serve."

To the casual observer, it's just the newest café on Germantown Avenue. But for Jennifer Schwirzer and the Chestnut Hill church, there's a lot more at stake. They share with you and me the mission of Christ to seek and save the lost; and, with every bowl of soup and casual conversation, they are one step closer to this mission being accomplished.

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Celina Worley is assistant to the president for communication and mission in the Pennsylvania Conference.