Coffee and Caring
Debbie Welborn (right) started a coffee ministry at her church that now brings people together for community and caring as well as coffee. (Photo Courtesy of South Carolina Advocate)
South Carolina Advocate | August 25, 2025
PELZER, S.C. —Debbie Welborn didn’t drink coffee. She didn’t even know how to make coffee. So when God started telling her she needed to open a coffee ministry at Augusta Road United Methodist Church, she wasn’t the only one who thought the calling was bizarre.
Yet night after night, God wouldn’t let go.
“I couldn’t sleep!” Welborn recalls. “I kept seeing visions of a coffee shop, kept hearing God tell me over and over, loud and clear, you need to do this. I mean, he was pounding on my head: ‘You are going to do this.’”
That was more than four and a half years ago, and today, the church is a thriving testament to one woman’s obedience—and one church’s willingness to take a chance and say yes.
Every Tuesday and Thursday morning from roughly 8 to 11 a.m., dozens flock to the church for coffee, a hot breakfast and, best of all, genuine neighborly fellowship.
Welborn calls the ministry Holy Grounds, and everything is free, though they do take donations. Apart from an initial grant from the church for $750, they have never had to take a dime from the church since; donations cover everything, from food to coffee to the Holy Grounds logo a local theater’s artist hand-painted on the wall, all free.
Most who come each week are senior citizens—the oldest is 96, Welborn says.
“It’s just so nice for people to have someone to talk with, to sit with, to be with,” she says.
“I’ve had grown men cry about how important it is to them.”
‘God would not let it go’
Holy Grounds started in February 2021 when the church was on pause because of the pandemic, Welborn says, with 18 deaths from COVID-19. A friend invited her to have coffee at a Lutheran church in Mauldin that does a coffee ministry. Lonely and bored, Welborn went, even though she doesn’t drink coffee.
Yet when she set foot in the church and saw the people gathered there for fellowship and a warm drink, Welborn marveled at the atmosphere.
“I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had this at Augusta Road?’” Welborn says.
Back home, she took the idea to her husband, Joe, who was the head of church trustees—nah, he said.
She took the idea to her pastor—nah.
But God kept pushing her and pushing her.
“Finally I had to battle the board,” she said. “I was so bold in speaking to them—I’m usually not that way! But God would not let it go.”
The church relented, giving her funds to buy a coffee machine and some basic supplies.
“That first day, sitting here, I thought, ‘Nobody’s going to come.’ But then at 8:15, they started coming,” Welborn recalls.
Always Welcome
Attendance varies, but there's never a day when Holy Grounds fails to offer hospitality to coffee lovers. (Photo Courtesy of South Carolina Advocate)
That was four and a half years ago, and since then, there hasn’t been a day they haven’t had at least a dozen, usually many more. Some come solo, while some bring a friend or a son or daughter. They are open year-round, holidays included. One year, they closed on July 4, and people were so sad Welborn decided closing wasn’t an option.
“Even on Thanksgiving, I’m open!” she says, laughing.
All smiles
What’s ironic is that in addition to not drinking—or knowing how to make—coffee prior to this ministry was that Welborn also didn’t cook. But now she cooks with a helper every week, making grits and sausage on Tuesdays and pancakes on Thursdays, always something hot and always diabetic-friendly.
Volunteers are sporadic—sometimes church members and friends, and sometimes high school kids who need community service hours. Everyone seems to enjoy it, and volunteers stick around long-term.
“This is a happy place—I leave here all smiles,” she says. “As you age, you sometimes feel like people start treating you different. But here, everyone laughs together and cries together.”
They’re like a family, she said.
In addition to the food, drink and fellowship, Holy Grounds now offers other opportunities. On the second Thursday of every month, health partners come, take blood pressures and offer other support.
At Christmas, they all take up a collection to support local children.
They also started a reading program in the summer where kids come, read a book and do a craft with the older people.
“I only thought God wanted me to serve coffee,” Welborn marvels today. “It’s been just wonderful.”
For more on Holy Grounds, call the church at 864-243-2829 or email connections@augustardumc.org.
Jessica Brodie
Jessica Brodie is editor of the South Carolina Advocate, the news publication of the South Carolina Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. This article is republished with permission from the Advocate.