By Donald Wittkowski
Abby Waid, a 19-year-old sophomore at Stockton University, felt there weren’t many places in Sea Isle City where people her age could get together, have fun and enjoy some entertainment.
At night, too many of them are at risk of getting into trouble by hanging out on the streets or on the Promenade, Sea Isle’s popular summer haunt for teenagers, Waid noted.
So, she set up a teen-oriented coffeehouse featuring karaoke music and open mic nights last summer. A coffeehouse isn’t unusual, but where it is located might surprise some teenagers – at the United Methodist Church at 4102 Central Ave.
“It’s a way to keep kids out of trouble and to give them something to do,” Waid said.
Dubbed Matt’s 18:20, the coffeehouse is set to return for a second season. It will reopen during Sea Isle’s Polar Bear Weekend celebration Feb. 16-18 and then came back again on Memorial Day weekend for the summer season.
The coffeehouse’s name is inspired by the biblical verse Matthew 18:20, when Jesus says, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Running a coffeehouse that serves as a social center for young people seems to blend perfectly with Waid’s studies at Stockton. She is a hospitality major focusing on event planning.
Waid had a good reason for choosing the United Methodist Church as the coffeehouse location. Her mother, Melissa Doyle-Waid, is the church’s senior pastor.
The church isn’t using the coffeehouse to recruit teenagers as congregants or to give them sermons. It is simply a place where mostly young people can socialize and enjoy entertainment in an atmosphere free of alcohol or drugs, Doyle-Waid explained.
“We have people of all ages come in, but young people primarily, to have fun at a place where they’re not able to get into trouble,” she said.
The coffeehouse is one way that United Methodist Church is thinking “outside the box” to expand its reach and make church more interesting to everyone, she added.
“I’m a pastor. I know that church can be boring. We want people to have fun there,” she said.
This summer, the church may make its services more entertaining by incorporating dance or drama using an outdoor stage, Doyle-Waid said.
There are also plans to add some new attractions to the coffeehouse, including a pool table and ping-pong. Karaoke and open mic nights will continue to be a staple of the entertainment.
The coffeehouse has mainly been using social media to promote itself, including its Facebook and Instagram pages. It has also distributed fliers in the community to make itself known.
Waid said the coffeehouse’s reputation is also spreading through word of mouth. She recalled a time when she was at Ocean City High School to pick up her 17-year-old sister, Gabrielle, who is a junior, and overheard some students talking about the coffeehouse.
“There were some friends in the hallway and they said, ‘Hey, we’ll meet you at the coffeehouse,’” Waid said. “Hearing them talking about the coffeehouse was pretty cool.”
Both Waid and her mother said the coffeehouse has been attracting a lot of students from Ocean City High School. Waid’s 15-year-old brother, Micah, is a sophomore at the high school. Sea Isle’s students attend Ocean City schools, so there is a great deal of social interaction between both communities.
In addition to coffee, the customers at Matt’s 18:20 can enjoy espresso, tea, hot chocolate, frozen beverages and other drinks.
Doyle-Waid stressed that the church isn’t running the coffeehouse as a money-making enterprise, so it keeps its prices low. The most expensive beverage is $5.
