The KOG Cafe

I've always been about creating a safe place where you can kick back, share a cup of coffee, listen to some good music, view some interesting art, read a good book, eat some yummy food, and engage in connecting conversation with others. The KOG Cafe is that kind of place.

What's The KOG Cafe?

The KOG Cafe is located in a 100+yr old building on Parnie St. in the Merchant City district of the metropolis of Glasgow. Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and the 3rd largest in the UK with a population extending 1.2-2.3 million people (comparable to Seattle).

In 2000, part of the building on Parnie St. was leased by a small church (The KOG Church: formally Glasgow Central Vineyard) for the purposes of creating an establishment that would be a combined non-profit coffeehouse, art gallery, bookstore, meeting place, outreach to the people of Glasgow, and a center for art groups and Christian ministries to be housed.

Several short-term mission teams & longer term missionaries from churches around the US (along with individuals from all over the world...including myself) have traveled to Glasgow for the purpose of aiding the small church to renovate the building to become a cafe and so much more. As I have written in some previous posts, I traveled to Glasgow in 2000 with a handful of people from Boise, Idaho to go partner with the church there and help out with the renovation of the building. And I also moved back to Glasgow for 9 months during 2001-2002 to continue serving with the church there, attend a leadership/ministry college that the church offered, and work on THE KOG building.

Being a professional artist, part of what I got to do on my first trip to Glasgow, was paint a large wall mural in the entry hallway of the KOG Cafe. I spent the greater part of a week prepping and planning my design (which was a colorful abstract of raining cogs) and then an entire day painting it on the roughly 16-17ft high 20ft long wall. It was one of the most amazing days I've ever had as I hung out on ladders and danced on scaffolding. I found my creative zone painting as I listened to loud music and the sounds of the other team members hammering, sawing, singing, and building stuff in the room nearby that would be the cafe.

The building's location has a lot history rooted in Christian revivals for the city of Glasgow. But in recent years it sits in the midst of a dark and oppressive area of Glasgow and the building has gone to ruin. The church has vision that "God has assigned (them) to the Merchant City, pinpointing it as a key area in taking back Glasgow for Jesus and ushering in His Kingdom." (*). The cafe is called THE KOG...an acronym for The Kingdom Of God. The City of Glasgow is undertaking a huge project to turn that area into a thriving area of artistic culture. And The KOG Cafe longs to be part of the plans for the future.

A lot of work has already been done over the last 10 years...but there's lots more to do.

Unfortunately, The KOG Cafe is unfinished. The main ground floor housing the cafe, the art gallery, and a back room (for bands to play, open mic to take place, movie nights to happen, and church worship services to be held in) was finished & opened to the public around 2003. The basement is still unfinished (practically dirt floors, old musty brick walls, & lots to be done) and an upper floor that has yet to be released for lease to the church. "Since first obtaining the building in 2000, (the) work at KOG Cafe was met with many and varied problems, to the extent that the Cafe closed to the public in 2005 and (the) church temporarily moved to West Hurlet House in 2008 (this is a building located in the city limits of Glasgow). (They) have maintained (their) lease at the KOG Cafe in the hope of restarting the work, and other groups have been using it during this time." (*).

(*)quoted from a newsletter from the current Project Manager for The KOG Cafe Project 2009

I have been blessed to be a part of the beginnings of The KOG Cafe in Glasgow...and I continue to partner in prayer and support for what they do and represent in their city. I got to visit Glagow in 2005 (3 years after I had lived there) and I was able to see The KOG Cafe after it had been open to the public for business and also for church services in the back room. I'm pleased to know that though it's been closed for a few years now, the plans are to re-open the cafe by October 2009 and get the place fully functional again. Renovation plans continue in order to finish the basement and hopefully acquire the top floor. I look forward to the next time I get to travel to Scotland and hang out in The KOG Cafe in Glasgow!

The KOG Cafe website: (you can see a couple of photos here & learn more about it)
http://www.kogcafe.co.uk/

Cead Mile Failte!

I will never forget getting to spend St. Patrick's in Glasgow. It was a night I will remember all my life! 

I have celebrated St. Paddy's every year for decades in some form or fashion by spending time with friends and/or family sharing a pint or two, listening to Irish music, dancing, and having a good time. March 17, 2002 will go down in my memory books as one of the best. 

I got to hang out with 3 of my new friends in an Irish Pub on St. Vincent downtown Glasgow (that's a photo of the pub...it's called "Failte" which means "Welcome" in Gaelic). The pub was packed (wall to wall, like sardines) with revelers from all over the world (although mostly Scotland and Ireland) having a great time drinking and laughing and dancing. 

It was my first experience celebrating the Irish holiday abroad...and I must say it was a brilliant time! There was a band playing live Irish pub songs. The Guinness was flowing that night like the nearby Clyde. The colors worn by most people were either black, or green and white. And many people carried large Republic flags of green, white, and orange draped around themselves. Several times sections of the pub crowd would break into song together (I was told some of them were singing old IRA songs). 

This crowd was like nothing I had ever experienced before. People would cling to each other in Celtic brotherhood as they chanted their songs raising their pints with each crescendo. Conversations were easily entered into with adjacent neighbors. And anyone who had a drop of Irish blood in them was proud of it!

I was gobsmacked by the fact that I was in an Irish pub surrounded by Irish and Scots celebrating an Irish holiday....in Scotland. It blew me away! I won't go into too much detail of the fun we had, but I will say many pints were consumed and it was a very late night (or I should say "early morning") and I'm glad the form of transport I took home to my flat was a taxi! 

So as this years St. Paddy's Day arrives...and though I am 1/2 way round the world from those fun friends and that packed pub...I will raise my glass to them (you know who you are). Thank you for a great memory! 

Slainte!

Painting Scotland

"The Presence of the Future" 18x24 oil on canvas

Isle of Mull looking towards the Isle of Iona, Scotland

while living in Scotland i had the wonderful opportunity to visit some beautiful places in the Highlands and in the Hebrides Isles. i took lots of photos and would spend time painting while i lived in Glasgow. my paintings began to change from the ones i did after my first trip to Scotland. originally i tried to capture the romantic beauty of the "bonnie isle" but what transpired was a ruggedness & a wildness of what i came to know as the Scottish spirit...the kind we all learned about in "Braveheart". some of the paintings I painted while I was living there. others i completed when i returned to the States. they speak of what continues to live deep in my heart for Scotland. as i know i will always be going back to Scotland...i know i will always be painting Scotland.

"History Maker" 22x28 oil on canvas

waterfall in the GlenCoe area of the highlands, Scotland

"Breakfast on the Beach" 11x14 oil on canvas

beach on the Isle of Tiree, Scotland

"He Says Come" 11x14 oil on canvas paper

the falls of Dochart, Scotland

"Can I Ascend?" 11x14 oil on canvas paper (and again 14x18 oil on canvas)

the GlenCoe area of the highlands, Scotland

"Breathe Again" 11x14 oil on canvas paper (and again 18x24 oil on canvas)

beach area on the Isle of Coll, Scotland

"Break These Chains" 18x24 oil on canvas

ancient broch on the Isle of Tiree, Scotland