I’ve been to a number of churches since I move around a lot. I drink coffee every service I’m in. Some churches sell coffee, others just give it away. The presence of coffee has never made a difference in those churches and the movement of God in them. What made the difference was the involvement of the congregation and the church’s leadership.
For example, my family and I tried a church for a couple of weeks in northern New York. “Come as you are and be loved” was their explicit motto. OK...that could mean a lot of things, but, fine, whatever. They had a large social area outside of the actual sanctuary. Free coffee, couches, some snack foods. Lots of conversations and general hanging out. No real issue there. Then the service starts. People trickle in throughout the worship service, a great number just continue to hang out in the social area. No effort is made to be punctual and engage in the worship service, but that’s understandable once you hear the worship service. Those people are the Walking Dead up there. No heart, no passion, just going through the motions. The lead “singer” just mumbles the words into the microphone.
When it’s finally over, the pastor gets up there and starts his sermon. The message is OK, pretty generic, but he seems like a passionate guy. Then he relates a story about being at a meeting table with other pastors and a prophet prophecies among them. He says he’s bored and not even paying attention. He brags that he’s “not a very religious person.”
After the service, we collect our daughters from Sunday school. The room the older one is in has a volunteer serving who is 100% open lesbian. No question about it. Now I know what “come as you are and be loved” means. We never went back.
Is coffee the downfall of such a church? No. The attitude of the people involved in it is. Church, to them, was just another hangout destination. Regardless of how casual or formal the atmosphere of a church is, it should be more than a place to gab with your friends. Fellowship is one thing, but this “church” was something totally different.
I have been to other churches with a similar setup (coffee, social area, etc) that was very powerful, and you could feel God move every service. The people were on-time, respectful, and engaged. The pastor was quick to crack the whip and demand better behavior from people who sauntered in whenever they felt like it or decided to get up and leave during altar call so they could beat the traffic.
Don’t blame you a bit for getting out of that church and not looking back.
But, as I’ve had to clarify before, I never claimed that coffee is the “downfall” of a church. Again, I don’t think food and drink in a worship service is appropriate. I never will. You very well may not have a problem with it.