Why go to church when you can go to Starbucks?

(What a blasphemous title! I know!)

"We like to say that our church is a genuine community of faith, the kind of place people can feel at home. Still, you may have to go down the block to get to see that become a reality for lots of people. We need to be honest and admit that people are lining up to get into Starbucks, but they aren't lining up to get into many of our churches. Why?" -Rev. Greg Asimakoupoulos [Source]

Why? I have a few theories:

Starbucks is trendy. Churches are not. Unless you consider the churches who serve Starbucks. They might be on to something.

Consider the kind of graphic design that goes into promoting churches. In a word: boring. Meanwhile, Starbucks knows how to successfully market itself.

Consider the calorie and sugar amount in frappuccinos (the popular drink for the non-coffee drinker). A venti mocha frappuccino has 500 calories with 67 grams of sugar. Many Starbucks goers never stop to check the nutrition information on drinks but I imagine all that sugar must make one very happy.

I have more theories but I’ll stop there. If you would like to share your own, feel free.