Shrine Coffee is a non-profit community coffeehouse, operating as an extension of the Shrine ministry of the Oblates of St. Joseph in Santa Cruz, CA. Shrine Coffee seeks to evangelize through the “culture of encounter” that Pope Francis and his predecessors have encouraged. It serves as a meeting place melding the ideas of wonder and welcome, for all people, whatever stage they find themselves in the great pilgrimage of life.

Shrine Coffee serves as a vital instrument for renewal during this time of “new evangelization” within the Church.

Since 1952, the Shrine of St. Joseph has been a place of pilgrimage and devotion, inviting Santa Cruz tourists and local residents alike to enter ever more deeply into the prayer and sacramental life of the universal Church. With the addition of Shrine Coffee, the Oblates of St. Joseph community seeks to “open wide the doors” to our neighbors, and thus to Christ himself. The founders of Shrine Coffee are striving to maintain a state of life-long pilgrimage, and would like to help other seekers to do so as well, particularly those who are “afar off”. Through craft, hospitality, and fidelity, Shrine Coffee seeks to provide an oasis from the false divide of mind and spirit, reason and faith, that modern man is accustomed to—and plagued by— and to do so in a manner following in the Church’s rich tradition of cultivating and promoting the beautiful and the good in service of the true.

The Catholic Church was once renowned for its appreciation for and patronage of beauty, in art, music, and architecture. The Shrine of St. Joseph strives to do our part to renew that association both in the building of this community space and the excellence of our coffeehouse offerings, emphasizing quality and artisanal craftmanship, beauty in the small things in service of the greatest of things. In addition to art, music, and architecture, the Church is home to a long tradition of expressing beauty through culinary, artisanal craft. This tradition reached its zenith in the prayerful work of Cistercian monks, giving us the pinnacles of beer and wine in Belgium and Burgundy. This commitment to prayerful, community-driven excellence lies at the heart of the Shrine Coffee vision. In so doing, our strategy is in line with the emerging consensus among the best thinkers in the New Evangelization, who encourage us to “lead with the beautiful.” A modern coffee house opens up a perfect way to do so, sitting at the interface of two real goods still loved by the unchurched seeking community— mindful, artisan craft and personalistic justice.

All contributions to Shrine Coffee are tax-deductible; more information and online donation portal can be found at www.shrinecoffee.com. Our gratitude in advance for any support, spiritual or financial, that you can lend to completing the building of Shrine Coffee. God bless you!