2012
This coffee shop is owned and run by members of a suspected cult, The Madison Place Church—formerly known as Gladstone Community Church. Their worship building is across the street on Plainville Rd. They changed their name after bad press. All the money made by the coffee shop is directly given to the church elders. “Members” live together in separate communal homes for men and women. Many in the church are gay (but believe they’ve been “cured of it” through their faith), they live in “common purse,” meaning they share their resources (all money goes to the elders for allotment) based on a scripture from Acts 2, and they target people at crossroads in their lives, such as former sex workers or addicted people. They run “Lazarus Rooms” which guide drug-addicted people through withdrawal, which is dangerous and not officially or professionally sanctioned at all. They have recently moved toward teaching against marriage and romantic relationships, as they believe that any desire for personal benefit is sinful or a temptation from satan. Several of the older members who weren’t in the general age group (20s-40s) have left, along with other younger ones. In order to buy homes without scrutiny, the elders will have individual members buy homes in their name, but they sign its control and use over to the elders.
