Christian Campus House considers opening coffee shop
Former employees at The Coffee Ground proposed the venture.
Published Nov. 6, 2008
The Christian Campus House is considering opening a coffee shop on the edge of campus in its housing for female members.
The Christian Campus House board held a meeting Monday to discuss the viability of opening the shop at its house at 704 College Ave.
The dining room and commercial kitchen have gone unused since the purchase of the house in July 2006. Phi Gamma Delta fraternity formerly owned the house.
CCH Director Lance Tamerius said the board members considered whether they wanted to use a portion of the building for a coffee shop and how to structure that within their ministry.
Former employees at The Coffee Ground, which closed Oct. 18, proposed the idea to CCH about six weeks ago, Tamerius said. CCH would use the store's old equipment, donated by owner Jenn Myles.
"I just saw a need, and I had the items to fulfill their need," Myles said.
She said The Coffee Ground has long had a good relationship both with MU and CCH, whose members were frequent customers and employees.
Brian and Micalah Thayer, a married couple, were two of five past CCH members who were employees when The Coffee Ground closed. Together, they have led the proposal of the new coffee shop in the house.
Myles said Brian Thayer has an interest in both business and ministry.
"He just saw a great opportunity to bring those together," she said.
The Thayers could not be reached for comment.
Myles said she has a similar goal, inspired by the leftover coffee-making equipment.
"My husband and I are also interested in ministry and how it could be used, that we could somehow use this to glorify God," she said.
The new coffee shop would open in the kitchen and dining area of the old fraternity house next fall.
But there is a lot of work to do before that happens, Tamerius said.
"In the meantime, we still have to decide for sure that we want to do this," he said. "I cannot see any reason why we wouldn't pursue the opportunity, but we want to make sure everything is in order before we proceed."
For example, he said, the board still must consider how a coffee shop would fit into its Christian campus ministry. It would also have to work out plans for any necessary renovations and be sure the new shop would meet health regulations.
"We still have a lot of information to gather before we go ahead," Tamerius said.
CCH has already contacted the City of Columbia about zoning, but Tamerius said no re-zoning is necessary because the coffee shop would be a part of the group's already existing ministries.
The shop would operate as a non-profit entity, Tamerius said. Costs would be minimal because The Coffee Ground would donate the equipment, and CCH volunteers would run the shop, with the exception of a paid overseer. There are also few remodeling concerns.
The new coffee shop, which will not be named until the group decides to go ahead with the project, will be open to regular campus traffic in addition to CCH's approximately 80 members.