Today I met up with Rachael at Flat White which is a coffee shop that friend put me on to. I am a bit (well a massive bit) of a coffee snob, and Flat White settled my snobbishness entirely.

The coffee was fantastic (from Monmouth no less) and the atmosphere and ambiance of the place made drinking and reading here very comfortable.

I was early, which combined with Rachael being held up which caused me to notice a few things about Flat White. Here, in this little coffee shop in Soho is a thriving community. People seemed to know each other and would pop in and out which reminded me a little of an Orthodox service where people pop in and out as they wish.

There were some unique differences. If people ordered coffee they were asked for their name. When it was ready and the person brought the coffee to the table she or he called your name rather than ‘2 cappucinos and a latte!?’. There was a personal attention given to people that is often lacking in London with questions about how the day was going, would you like another coffee and so on. I also observed someone coming home from a trip and giving presents to the staff.

I loved this place which has a great atmosphere of welcome. The staff here understand something of hospitality and I left feeling the benefits of that understanding. I think it hit me more beause it was unexpected and I was not looking for it.

I’m not ging to bang on about the parallels between this and church as I think they will be pretty obvious to the few people that read here, but its interesting for me to note that I felt more welcomed, accepted and free here than I have felt in many churches I have visited. I pray that any community that I will be involved in in the future will be able to gain this hospititality understanding.