Church brews up new business, ministry concept

EAST COUNTY — Bruce McEwen knows how to manage property.

But his newest venture combines his faith with his business acumen — the opening of a coffee shop in the East County.

McEwen, pastor of Palmetto Church of the Nazarene, and his wife, Renee, will open Sacred Grounds Coffee House Saturday in Braden River Plaza, at 4650 State Road 64 E., Bradenton.

The shop, which will offer coffee and drinks, as well as pre-packaged pastries and desserts, will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

The couple’s grandson, Tylor Stell, will help run the shop, as well. He will be the only paid staff member. Renee McEwen quit her job cleaning houses to volunteer at the shop full time. And church members will volunteer to staff the shop occasionally, as well.

Bruce McEwen will be a bi-vocational pastor, continuing his full-time job with Casey Management as manager for The Moorings condominium community in Lakewood Ranch, but he will help at the store after work and on weekends.

“It’s a ministry for us,” Bruce McEwen said.

Palmetto Church of the Nazarene sold its church building in January, in a move to reduce expenses and to rethink the way it reached out to the community.

“(The church) wasn’t conducive to growth because of the location,” Bruce McEwen said. “We wanted to be toward growth, near I-75.”

Two years ago, the church attempted to buy the historic Olympia Theater in Palmetto, with a vision to use the theater as a way to reach the community. The McEwens had hoped to use their experience of running a theater program for a church in Illinois there. But purchasing the property didn’t work out.

Following a missionary conference, a member of the church suggested the church start a coffee shop.

“We started that process,” Bruce McEwen said. “We sold the church. It sold quickly in January.”

Without enough money to build a new facility, Palmetto Church of the Nazarene pushed forward with the coffee shop concept. Bruce McEwen saw it as a way to minister to the community, while also, hopefully, generating revenues the church can use to build a building in the East County area in five to 10 years.
Although not all of Church of the Nazarene’s members agreed with the idea of starting a coffee shop, most — about 22 — continue to partner with the church.

“It’s a mindset people have to (adjust to),” Bruce McEwen said. “Tradition is wonderful, but you have to learn and grow from tradition.”

Church members now gather informally for coffee and Bible study, but the church isn’t allowed to hold services on the property.

Bruce and Renee McEwen and Stell attended barista training in Tampa in February. They said they are eager to put their new skills to use, and hope to create a coffee experience for patrons.

“The best outreach is to have a place that’s safe for non-Christians that they aren’t going to be (intimidated),” Bruce McEwen said. “We want people to come here. Hopefully, that conversation (they have) will lead to God. So many people are searching for something and they don’t know what they are looking for.”

Now Open
Sacred Grounds Coffee house
Open: 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday
Address: 4650 State Road 64 E., Bradenton, in Braden River Plaza
Website: sgcoffeehouse.com (under construction)
Phone: 405-2075

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].