Coffee Hour

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Madaglan

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This poll is for persons who regularly attend an Eastern Catholic or Orthodox church.

How long do you stay at the church following Liturgy on Sunday for “Coffee Hour”/“Fellowship”?

Not the poll, but how important is Coffee Hour/Fellowship to the spiritual life of the parish?

🙂
 
Madaglan said:
This poll is for persons who regularly attend an Eastern Catholic or Orthodox church.

How long do you stay at the church following Liturgy on Sunday for “Coffee Hour”/“Fellowship”?

Not the poll, but how important is Coffee Hour/Fellowship to the spiritual life of the parish?

🙂
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For our community (St. Joseph Melkite Mission), the coffee hour is practically an extension of the whole experience. Almost everyone attends, and it often last 45 minutes to an hour. At the end, most folks are still around and help clean up.

I myself almost always stay to the end and help clean up, unless there are other obligations I have to attend to or a bus to catch. 🙂

Peace and God bless!
 
Byzantine Ruthenian parish. The poll says I can’t vote.

Anyhoo, we stay about 1/2 an hour at most. We have a teeny community, about 13 people tops, and usually only stay for coffee hour if the other family with a child is there, so our kids have somebody to play with. It’s really for kid fellowship. 😃 My husband is not a social type of guy, even though I am, and we’re usually very hungry for dinner after fasting since noon.

I like the opportunity to possibly chat with the priest. Or to touch bases with the other parishioners. But if we didn’t have coffee hour we would still attend, as it’s the only Byzantine parish in our town.
 
samcarter14 said:
Byzantine Ruthenian parish. The poll says I can’t vote.

Anyhoo, we stay about 1/2 an hour at most. We have a teeny community, about 13 people tops, and usually only stay for coffee hour if the other family with a child is there, so our kids have somebody to play with. It’s really for kid fellowship. 😃 My husband is not a social type of guy, even though I am, and we’re usually very hungry for dinner after fasting since noon.

I like the opportunity to possibly chat with the priest. Or to touch bases with the other parishioners. But if we didn’t have coffee hour we would still attend, as it’s the only Byzantine parish in our town.
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Did you get an error message when you tried to vote?
 
The fellowship after Liturgy at St. Basil’s can last anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour depending on how many people show up.
 
As most of the “regulars” here know, I’m an Oriental, so perhaps I shouldn’t involve myself in this thread, but what the hay …

Years ago I was a regular at such things, but these days, (for a variety of personal reasons that I have no intention of going into here), I do not attend the “kaffee klatch” or whatever one wants to call it.

The primary reason that I’m posting at all, is so give my 2c to the non-poll query:
Madaglan said:
…
Not the poll, but how important is Coffee Hour/Fellowship to the spiritual life of the parish?
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From my many (and it is many) years of experience, the value of the coffee hour on anything remotely “spiritual” is just about the same as of a cup of bad American-style coffee. (To clarify the frame of reference, I drink (exclusively) either Turkish coffee (if well-made – and contrary to what many will say, that’s not easy to do) or espresso, etc. (On the latter, I have to say I detest Starbucks, but that’s an issue in and of itself that it totally off-topic.)

OK, stand-up routine aside (yeah, alright, I know I’m not Shecky Greene), I have always found the coffee hour a very suitable (I will even say, good) venue for making contacts (need a job? how about a referral to a contractor or (if the contractor doesn’t perform) a lawyer? I have a pain, anyone know a good doctor for that? etc etc etc), but frankly not much more than that. Yes, people go off into their cliques to discuss whatever Church-sponsored program they may be a part of, but they would do it anyway without the free refreshments. (In the summer months (July and August) there is no “coffee hour” and they still manage to conduct that kind of discussion.)

I probably sound like a curmudgeon (and perhaps I am – I’ve been called that an a whole lot worse) but still I have yet to see anything remotely “spiritual” take place at one of those social events (even when I was a regular).

Now, please don’t get me wrong: if I were in charge, I would most certainly not eliminate the “coffee hour.” It has a purpose, which I see as mainly social, and that’s not a bad thing. Plus, people generally enjoy it. I suppose some would call it “spiritual” based on the “fellowship” idea, but I’m just not one of them. Strictly, solely, and totally MHO.
 
Byz. Ruthenian.

Since ECF starts 30m after DL ends, and lasts 45min, we’re there over an hour after liturgy.
 
One of the things I love about the Melkite parish we attend is that people are NOT in a hurry to leave after Sunday Liturgy.

I’ve known Orthodox parishes that make coffee even after daily Vespers.
 
When I lived in Indy, some of us were known to stay over 3 hours just hanging out. Then, Father would say, “Let’s go down the street to get some food!”

My little son wants to put some “funny faces” on this post.

:mad: :bounce: :blushing: :bighanky: :hammering: :christmastree1: :irish3:
 
I’m not yet Orthodox, but am attending a parish regularly. I will be talking with the priest about becoming a catechumen very soon.

The parish we are attending has a common meal (which was totally surprising to us as we thought it was “coffee” hour). People eat, children play, some even play chess 🙂

I think that the coffee hour is very important to the spiritual life of the church. It is a way to fellowship with and get to know people in a way that doesn’t (and shouldn’t) happen during worship. Many people also travel long(er) distances to get to the church (we travel over 30 miles and some travel a good bit more than that) it may be the only time during the week to see others in the church.

ddc
 
Our weekly “coffee socials” run about 90 minutes. Not all stay the entire time but most do. The parish pays for the coffee and the coco. There is a sign-up sheet for families and groups of individuals to host the weekly coffee socials. Some host more than others. It all works out.
 
I am in a Byzantine, Ruthenian parish, we have people who often stay well over an hour, just to chat after the Sunday Divine Liturgy. I’ve been at other parishes locally where I’'l be the last to leave a good 2 hours after liturgy ended. This is in Southern California, land of freeways, traffic jams, and rushed lifestyle.

I have also been to parishes where everyone seems to vanish into thin air upon leaving the church doors after Divine Liturgy, it’s kinda spooky. Almost like an Eastern Catholic/Orthodox version of “Left Behind”.

For the most part I find with smaller Eastern Catholic and Orthodox parishes that have coffee hour/socials, people will stay for about an hour to chat and not feel rushed about getting on with the day, particularly on Sundays or major feast days.
 
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