I met Pastor Brandon Holmes in 2022 through Facebook Messenger as he was preparing to launch Promise Co. Church in Waco.
He wanted to reach people who’d never set foot in church—and the way he did it changed how we think about outreach.
They were among the earliest churches to try out our “Coffee With a Pastor” campaign. What followed shaped our entire approach to outreach.
How Brandon and His Wife Ended Up in Waco After Years in Youth Ministry
Brandon tells me he and his wife spent years serving as youth pastors in a small town in Ohio. They loved the students, but something inside them shifted. The longer they prayed, the clearer it became—God was calling them to something new.
I ask Brandon how they chose where to go. He laughs a little and says, “We didn’t. Not really.” They spent four years visiting cities. Boston. San Antonio. Everywhere in between. Nothing clicked.
Then they passed through Waco on a trip. It wasn’t even on their list. But Brandon recalls, “We walked around and just felt peace. We looked at each other and knew—this was it.”
They didn’t know anyone there. Just a conviction. And that’s how Promise Co. Church began.
It eventually worked—after two meetings that felt like dead ends.
The Launch Story Few Pastors Tell
Their first interest meeting? Three people showed up.
Their second? Zero.
Brandon realized they weren’t missing interest but the structure.
They needed a better system to guide people from the first click to a lasting connection. And that’s when they turned to ChurchCandy.
Getting the Right People in the Room
After launching ads with ChurchCandy, things changed fast. Their third meeting brought in 30 to 40 people. Then 60.
Brandon remembers the shift: “Our message was fine. We just didn’t know what to do after someone clicked.”
They started creating pathways between interest meetings. Instead of hoping people returned, they invited them to dinner parties.
Brandon says, “I wanted them to know me. Why do I laugh? Why am I corny? Why am I introverted? If they could connect with me first, discipleship would follow.”
People began showing up consistently and bringing others with them. Some guests were even baptized by people who once sold them drugs.
Coffee With a Pastor: From Experiment to Strategy
I’ve seen this strategy work in different cities. One of the most powerful examples came from Pastor Josh Koskinen of Story Hill Church in Wisconsin.
He used coffee ads before launch and booked 78 one-on-one meetings. Many of those conversations turned into launch team members.
On their first Sunday, 710 people showed up.
In between interest meetings, Brandon had an idea.
“What if we invited people to coffee instead of an event?”
We built a simple ad: a short invite from Brandon to grab coffee.
And people showed up.
Brandon recalls, “Some told me they’d never been invited to anything like this by a pastor. It made them feel seen.”
At first, I wasn’t sure this would work. But once I saw the messages coming in and the people showing up, it was clear—what they really wanted was a conversation with someone who cared.
That one idea became Chapter 3 of my book Launch Big. And now, churches across the country run this campaign.
Who They Reached (And How It Changed Them)
Promise Co. doesn’t attract the typical Sunday crowd.
Brandon says, “We prayed for the broken. And we got them. Former drug dealers. People who used to cut themselves. Single moms. LGBTQ couples in transition. Teachers who never stepped into church before.“
He recalls one story of a woman named Bebe.
She had never felt seen in church. She had a traumatic past. Found Jesus in jail. Saw Brandon’s ad. Said yes to coffee. Didn’t show up right away.
But he kept following up. When they finally met, it felt awkward, but it changed everything.
Today, Bebe is one of their most faithful greeters.
Bebe’s story reminds me of something Pastor Sherman Dumas shared with me.
He told me about Tracy, a woman who kept seeing the church ad but ignored it.
Something eventually pulled her in. She showed up, got connected, and now helps lead outreach. Like Bebe, Tracy hadn’t felt seen by the church before. And like Bebe, her life changed because someone reached out and followed up.
Relationship Before Discipleship
Brandon says the dinner parties and coffee invites created trust.
“You can’t start by telling someone they’re in sin. You start by learning their name.”
That led to a 65–70% conversion rate from coffee chats to serving or attending.
Every week, someone joins because of those one-on-one connections.
Logistics and Safety
Brandon learned quickly: boundaries matter.
He never meets alone with women. His wife or a female leader joins. Every meeting happens in public.
He says, “We meet at Starbucks near Baylor. It’s busy. It’s safe. And it honors everyone.”
They now schedule meetings through a form. Based on responses, they decide who meets where and when.
For Pastors Feeling Stuck
Many churches use digital ads to invite people to Sunday.
Brandon changed the approach.
Instead of pushing a service invite, he used a personal connection—starting with a conversation and a cup of coffee—as the first step.
I asked him why it worked.
He said, “People don’t leave churches because of doctrine. They leave because they feel unseen. I can’t fix their trauma. But I can know their name.”
Final Thought
If you want to reach people who feel left behind by the church, start by meeting them face-to-face.
If you’re wondering how to take the first step, consider this: one coffee invite might change someone’s life.
Pastor Bryan Larson took a similar personal approach when he relaunched an 80-year-old church and saw 300 people attend on day one.
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