'Grueling' Starbucks fasts latest 40-day fad

WILMINGTON, Del. — At 9:40 p.m. on New Year's Eve, Jim Thorpe stole away from his church's all-night prayer meeting to grab a last-minute latte at the local Starbucks.

"I needed one more hit before the Great Denial," he says. The next day he and hundreds of people in his church began their first annual Starbucks fast.

"It's a killer," says Thorpe. "I thought forty days without food was tough, but this is psychological warfare."

Some churches, tuckered out after long, sobering group fasts in past years, are opting for "fun fasts" — giving up Starbucks, scrapbooking, even Bed, Bath & Beyond and other habits. But in many cases, those fasts are proving more difficult than simply giving up certain meals.

At Abundant Life Center in Clearwater, Fla., a church-wide Starbucks fast has led to headaches, heart flutters and general grumpiness. Nursery workers and ushers are clashing over trifles, and the worship team "has gone mutinous," says an associate pastor.

"During last year's 40-day juice fast, people's headaches went away after a day or two," says Renee Gaven, the church's keyboardist who started her fast on the day after Christmas. "I'm a week into the Starbucks fast and I feel like a druggie gone cold turkey. I'm snapping at everyone."

Some people say the worst part of giving up Starbucks is the social interaction they miss.

"I still go stand in line, but when I get to the front I don't buy anything," confesses church usher William Pluss, 46. "Half my social life takes place in that store."

One church offers emergency classes in caffeine withdrawal and headache-management. One church gave its people small "aroma-therapy" packets of coffee beans to sniff when they felt the Venti urge.

"We're all looking forward to February 9," says one pastor. "We thought this would be an easier fast, but it's a challenge. I can hardly get a sermon on the page without the caffeine, which is sad, I guess."

Elsewhere across the country, men's groups are fasting PlayStation; women's groups gave up Target stores and scrapbooking.

"I won't do this kind of fast again," says one scrapbooking fanatic half-jokingly. "My fingers are itching to get to the books. It’s hard to concentrate. I can barely pray for five minutes."

What we have found is best for our early service is Starbucks. It does have higher caffeine content and there is not much nodding off any more. For the later services we switch to Dunkin Donut's coffee. The older folks seem to like that more for the flavor rather than the caffeine rush. Some even go for the tea, the Blackberry Sage of Republic of Teas and the orange of Tazo seem to be the favorites. We have a problem with our donut and danish selections though. The early service people want the glazed chocolate cake donuts and their children who go to Sunday School during the early service really go for the chocolate donut holes, but the later service people like the cheese danish more than the fruit danish. Their kids are teenagers so they eat anything. The hospitality committee is trying to standardize the menu but they are afraid of offending the later service people who tend to be older and better givers. The offerings at the later services are larger and the deacons don't know if that is related to the danish, the tea selection; but they don't want to take a chance so they decided to just bear up under the suffering and make all comfortable. The fast is intriguing though. Perhaps we could try that for the donuts and danish for forty days and then standardize the menu. Kind of a "spiritual awakening" sort of thing.

Of course, being a Baptist Church, we would have to announce the change in the danish-donut menu a couple of weeks in advance and have a church wide vote on it. No one in their right mind would want to make that important a change without it being an official vote of the church. But if was to be a part of a revival we might just get away with it. It would certainly make the job of the hospitality committee a lot easier and maybe more would join the committee. Naah, that would just mean more ideas for donuts and probably muffins, and that would start it all over again. I think we will probably go with a smaller version of the fast, maybe whole milk rather than half-n-half. There will be controversy, but if we do it when I start my vacation it may have blown over by the time I get back. Thanks for the idea.

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