Stanwich Church Greenwich to grow another Stanwich Church Stamford – Senior Pastor Nathan Hart tells the story of this “big idea”
By Anne W. Semmes
Rev. Dr. and Senior Pastor Nathan Hart presides over a congregation of 600-plus in his historic (1731) backcountry Stanwich Church. But he’s also presided over a Sunday evening service in the south end of Stamford. “We were renting a room in the Revolution Boxing Gym on Pacific Street,” he tells, “and it was really cool. We packed the place out – well over 120 people most weeks, just to worship and to hear the word.”
But then the pandemic came. “We lost the rental of that room,” says Hart. “Are we going to let it die, or restart it,” he pondered. “Or is this an opportunity for a bigger idea for Stamford, not just a once-a week worship service?” He prayed with his church elders (elected members) and he “heard the Lord saying, ‘I want you to have a much bigger idea for Stamford, not just a once-a-week worship service.’”
Hart’s big idea is now, near-miraculously, a three-story architectural site plan with the Stamford downtown address of 252 Atlantic Street, posted for all to see inside the administration offices of his church, to become a reality sometime towards the end of 2023.
He walks this reporter through the plan’s ground floor. Picture “really cool looking, industrial style, garage doors,” he tells. “I want to be able to pull up those garage doors and have live music or something really wonderful happening in here…This is the coffee shop where six days a week people can gather. It’s going to have a living room feel. We’re partnering with a local small business owner, a coffee shop owner of Winfield Street Coffee. He’s going to be completely operating the coffee shop.”
That coffee shop will lead to a sanctuary able to seat 400, and beyond a small chapel, and restrooms. Hart explains his vision for this “Stamford Initiative” as 3-2-1. “The 3 meaning third place. Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, borrowed this term as a place where people can gather for community connection. Your first place is your home. Your second place is your workplace. And 60 or 70 years ago, most people’s third place was their church or their synagogue, where they would gather for relationship, or the bowling alley, or the Lion’s Club.”
But he notes, “Over the last couple of generations, the church and the synagogue have, in many ways, gone away as a third place, which is why you see the rise of a place like Starbucks, where people can come and do their work or have friendship or conversation.” So, Hart’s coffee shop will be a place, “where somebody is coming in to meet their friend on a Tuesday at 2 p.m. for a cup of coffee, and they don’t even realize they’ve just walked into a church. They’re just coming for connection. But they’ll know it’s a church, because you’re going to see a sign that says Stanwich Church.”
Those garage doors when lifted up will open to the diversity of a town over double the size of Greenwich. And more is on offer than just coffee. Translate that 2 of Hart’s 3-2-1 vision not as workplace but “second chance employment, for people actually working as baristas,” tells Hart. “And even some we’re going to need to hire to manage the building and do the ministries.
“We want to partner with addiction recovery ministries that we already support, like Pivot Ministries in Bridgeport. And we want to help employ their graduates…We fall in love with these guys. They’re wonderful guys. And in some cases, we watch them after they graduate the program cycle back into addiction. And one of the reasons some of them do is because they have a hard time getting jobs. We want them not only to be restored to their families after they graduate. We want to be able to help restore them into the economy.”
Churches that develop branches in other towns is not a new concept. Take Trinity Church in Greenwich that meets up in both Darien and in Larchmont. “If you look across the country,” shares Hart, “the movement is called multi-site church…And a lot of other churches across the country are doing the coffee shop model too. And why are other churches doing it? It has to do with this realization that the younger generations, call it Generation Z and maybe Millennials and younger, they hadn’t so much walked away from the church. They were never raised up in the church. They are literally de-churched people or unchurched people.”
And so, Hart says if one would say to “people living in a city who are Millennials or younger (totally unchurched), ‘Hey, you want to come to church with me?’ And it’s this white steeple church in backcountry Greenwich, the person’s going to look at you like you have three heads. ‘Is there a funeral? Is there a wedding? Is that why we’re going?’ They’re not going to go. That ship has sailed. Let’s try to bring church to them.”
So, that 3,500 square foot coffee shop on Atlantic Street will have books – Christian books, and there will be Bible studies on offer and perhaps one day an Alpha class. And on the rooftop, there will be a Prayer Garden like the beloved one at Stanwich Church Greenwich. And in the basement, after school tutoring for elementary school kids.
It was with this spirit of “How can we help,” that Hart met up recently with Mayor Caroline Simmons of Stamford. He addressed her with, “My guess, Mayor, is that a lot of people sit in this seat and want something from you…The only thing I want to know is, what are the needs? If I have, let’s say, 500 people in this [Stamford] Stanwich Church over the next few years, God willing, these are people who want to roll up their sleeves and serve. Is there need for tutoring school kids? Is there food insecurity? Do you need diapers for low-income families with babies?”
And here is where Hart speaks to just how he can offer this generosity. “It’s an amazing God story of how much He’s been giving through the congregation.” Soon after Hart and his elders signed on to that bigger idea for that Stamford ministry, the death of a member brought a surprise half million-dollar gift to the church. “And we prayed about it, and we really sensed God saying, “Let’s actually use this gift to generate more giving.” Long story short, that big idea grew into a 13.5 million dollar fundraise of which 11 and a half million dollars has been raised. “It’s a humble vision-oriented kingdom-oriented idea,” says Hart, “for people to give millions to something they might not be a part of.”
By 2024 Senior Pastor Nathan Hart is “fully expecting,” he says, that coffee shop and more is “going to fill up.” He adds, “I don’t say that with any aspect of overconfidence or arrogance. I’m only saying it because of the way I’ve seen the Lord’s favor on this project at every turn. He’s been over-blessing it with finances. He’s been over-blessing it with talent, people just showing up saying, “How can I help?” And they’re the exact skillset or mind talent that we need in that moment. And then, He just keeps blessing it.”
