Brewed Awakenings: Sandy interfaith group tackles tough topics over coffee and cake
By Kristen Moulton
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 09/03/2009 02:29:12 PM MDT
Madeline Linares, center, Roger Tsai, right, and other... (Anna Kartashova / The Salt Lake Tribune)
Sandy » Coffee and doughnuts after worship are standard in many Christian churches, but the seekers who belong to Brewed Awakenings take caffeinated conversation to new heights.
Each Friday night, a group of young adult professionals -- and a few in middle age -- gets together at the Sandy home of Madeline and Carlos Linares to sip some brew, nibble on popcorn and coffeecake and delve into meaty topics.
Take the recent two-hour conversation about whether race truly exists or is a human construct.
When Christina Chau, a marketing professional, asserts that it's a stereotype that the Chinese excel at math and become engineers, Nicky Li lights up.
"Wherever it came from, it's true," says Li, who left China to attend the University of Utah. "That's why I'm an engineer."
If the topic -- Carlos Linares jokingly calls it a chance to "talk about white people" -- seems far afield for a Christian group, it's because Brewed Awakenings has evolved into something much different.
"It's a community we have here," says Linares, president of Linares Consulting Group.
Brewed Awakenings began in early 2007 as a way for several Seventh-day Adventist couples to engage in fellowship at the beginning of the Sabbath, which runs from Friday evening to Saturday evening.
While more than half the 25 to 40 who regularly show up at the Linares home are fellow members of Wasatch Hills
Seventh-day Adventist Church on Foothill Drive in Salt Lake City, others belong to different faiths or don't believe in God at all.
The Linareses brew a couple thermoses of coffee and lay out the popcorn as well as chairs between their kitchen table and the couch. Norman Lian, a scientist, brings coffeecake or some other baked treat from his own oven.
Each week, a different group member takes a turn leading the discussion.
Many of the topics relate to religion. For instance, the group members talked about the existence of angels and about free will this summer and evolution vs. creation earlier in the year.
When Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, accepted an invitation to discuss his belief that there is a war on Christianity, religion definitely was on the table.
"He charmed some of us," notes attorney Roger Tsai, who describes himself as a nonbeliever, the resident devil's advocate who pushes the Christians -- including his fiancée, Chau, to walk their talk.
Yet other topics have been more secular.
The wide-ranging discussions are what keep Gloria Gonzales Cook and her husband, Craig Cook, coming back.
"It gives my mind some exercise it doesn't get anywhere else anymore," Craig Cook says.
"It's just a wonderful way to talk about things other than the latest television program," Gloria Gonzales Cook adds.
The couple are unlike most of the other Brewed Awakening regulars -- older, Catholic and Utah natives.
Jim Rosinus, an atheist who met Carlos Linares through business, says he feels even more different -- yet still welcome.
"It's not often you get to sit down with people and discuss adult topics," Rosinus says. "When they argue a religious point of view, I argue the rationalistic."
Linares is happy that Brewed Awakenings has grown beyond his expectation of a faith-based gathering.
Today, those who come on Friday nights often return for games or kickball on Saturday and Sunday, and the group recently took its annual trip to Bear Lake for the day.
It's far better, Linares says, to befriend people than to evangelize them.
"Our objective is not to convert anyone. I'd rather have them come and join us and feel welcome and embraced. That's far greater than any religion agenda or any theological agenda."
kmoulton@sltrib.com
Each Friday night, a group of young adult professionals -- and a few in middle age -- gets together at the Sandy home of Madeline and Carlos Linares to sip some brew, nibble on popcorn and coffeecake and delve into meaty topics.
Take the recent two-hour conversation about whether race truly exists or is a human construct.
When Christina Chau, a marketing professional, asserts that it's a stereotype that the Chinese excel at math and become engineers, Nicky Li lights up.
"Wherever it came from, it's true," says Li, who left China to attend the University of Utah. "That's why I'm an engineer."
If the topic -- Carlos Linares jokingly calls it a chance to "talk about white people" -- seems far afield for a Christian group, it's because Brewed Awakenings has evolved into something much different.
"It's a community we have here," says Linares, president of Linares Consulting Group.
Brewed Awakenings began in early 2007 as a way for several Seventh-day Adventist couples to engage in fellowship at the beginning of the Sabbath, which runs from Friday evening to Saturday evening.
While more than half the 25 to 40 who regularly show up at the Linares home are fellow members of Wasatch Hills
Seventh-day Adventist Church on Foothill Drive in Salt Lake City, others belong to different faiths or don't believe in God at all.
The Linareses brew a couple thermoses of coffee and lay out the popcorn as well as chairs between their kitchen table and the couch. Norman Lian, a scientist, brings coffeecake or some other baked treat from his own oven.
Each week, a different group member takes a turn leading the discussion.
Many of the topics relate to religion. For instance, the group members talked about the existence of angels and about free will this summer and evolution vs. creation earlier in the year.
When Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, accepted an invitation to discuss his belief that there is a war on Christianity, religion definitely was on the table.
"He charmed some of us," notes attorney Roger Tsai, who describes himself as a nonbeliever, the resident devil's advocate who pushes the Christians -- including his fiancée, Chau, to walk their talk.
Yet other topics have been more secular.
The wide-ranging discussions are what keep Gloria Gonzales Cook and her husband, Craig Cook, coming back.
"It gives my mind some exercise it doesn't get anywhere else anymore," Craig Cook says.
"It's just a wonderful way to talk about things other than the latest television program," Gloria Gonzales Cook adds.
The couple are unlike most of the other Brewed Awakening regulars -- older, Catholic and Utah natives.
Jim Rosinus, an atheist who met Carlos Linares through business, says he feels even more different -- yet still welcome.
"It's not often you get to sit down with people and discuss adult topics," Rosinus says. "When they argue a religious point of view, I argue the rationalistic."
Linares is happy that Brewed Awakenings has grown beyond his expectation of a faith-based gathering.
Today, those who come on Friday nights often return for games or kickball on Saturday and Sunday, and the group recently took its annual trip to Bear Lake for the day.
It's far better, Linares says, to befriend people than to evangelize them.
"Our objective is not to convert anyone. I'd rather have them come and join us and feel welcome and embraced. That's far greater than any religion agenda or any theological agenda."
kmoulton@sltrib.com
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