Maybe it's just Christians and coffee.

i try to go the coffee shops that look completely unappealing but have great coffee and wifi knowing that most church people will stay away.

it is a great “office,” especially if you work in a church w less than average office facilities, and like to meet people out in public.

First, I think that the primary reason that Starbucks is 'it' is because Starbucks is everywhere in Suburbia. It is the symbol of suburban excess, our $4.65 latte in the morning and at night. And Starbucks is everywhere. Because it has the financial reach of a huge multinational corporation, it can afford to open hundreds and hundreds of stores everywhere, including the farthest suburb.

So you've got the service industry – including Starbucks – in the suburbs and you've got the churches in the suburbs because that's where all of the people are on the weekends.

People in ministry have a very interesting work environment – they are only “open for business” on Sundays, Wednesdays, and when they have events, and while they may have offices they might not have office hours that they must adhere to.

So these lucky ministry folks have the ability – for the most part – to work from wherever they want.

In general, you wouldn't go to a sit-down restaurant to get some work done for a long period of time. Nor would you go to a park – no wifi, the weather might happen, etc. Some deli's like McAlister's or Jason's do have wifi and because there is no table service, staying for long periods of time is not shunned.

But where are you going to go if you aren't that hungry and don't want to spend much money – comparatively? A coffee shop.

And Starbucks is usually your only – if not one of the very few – options because the spread-out nature of Suburbia makes it hard for independent coffee shops – with limited brand recognition, advertising budgets, etc. – to survive.

All that to say – I don't think that there is anything particularly special about Starbucks that draws church-folk there, I think that Starbucks fills a niche and that people will go to whatever establishment fills that niche.

I'm sure church-folk go to a lot more varied coffee shops in locations where choice exist. Here in Tyler, we have a fantastic coffee shop called Caffe Tazza – it blows Starbucks out of the water. A lot of my people go there.

I think it is all about the availability of choice.