Founded in 1978 (see below), our COFFEE-HOUSE PRODUCTIONS are a ministry of drama and mission.  A combination of members and friends  present  five productions each year in Custis Hall.  Admission to the plays is free, but all profits from the refreshments that are served go to support the local mission work of Help-by-Phone of Prince Georges County.  Over the past 29 years, we've put on over 120 shows and raised over $80,000 for Help-by-Phone.

Did you know that our Coffee House Productions won the Governor's Award in Maryland for their years of ongoing quality ministry?!?

The Side Door Coffee House will begin its 30th year of presenting plays on January 26.

2008 Season Schedule:
January 26: "Tall Tales and Short Songs," an adaptation of Roughing It by Mark Twain, directed by Fredericka Berger.
March 1: "The Do-Gooders" by Graham Jones, directed by Fredericka Berger. The story focues on a teenager who tries to convince her friends and family of about a local environmental danger.
April 5: "The Dock Brief" by John Mortimer (author of Rumpole of the Bailey), directed by Fredericka Berger. Familiar Mortimer territory with incompetent lawyers and guilty defendants. And a surprise ending!

Showtimes are at 7:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. in Custis Hall.

Thanks, too, to all who volunteer in the kitchen, to the Boy Scouts who wait tables and to the youth of our Church who clean up!!

If you'd like to volunteer in the Drama/Mission ministry, contact Jackee Clark at 301-572-6150.  Help is needed and appreciated!

COMMENTS from the founder of the Coffee House Ministry:

"TIME FLIES when you’re having fun.”  That’s why it’s astonishing to realize that The Side Door Coffee House has been in existence for 30 years.  I remember the first night in January 1978 and how I said, “Let’s just set up for about thirty. We don’t want a lot of empty chairs.”  And the people poured in.   And still they come.  Can you believe that some people have been coming to and some people have been working in the Side Door Coffee House for twenty-nine years!  I can’t.  When we started it, I thought it was worth investing in home-built platforms and modest lighting capacity if it lasted for five years.

And yet I can believe it.  Because I know how faithfully people have worked to create the Coffee House.  And how appreciatively our clientele has reciprocated.  And I know that God has blessed our ministry – through our hospitality at the Coffee House and through our gifts to Help-by-Phone.  And I know that God has blessed us each individually through our participation in the Coffee House.  I say this with a profound sense of gratitude for all the hard workers who have made The Side Door Coffee House endure and for God’s presence in our midst.  Thanks be to God.
--- Fredericka Berger

"All Good Things Must Come to an End"

The producers, directors, staff and coordinator would like to thank our young people who spoke so eloquently at the Annual Congregation Meeting on Sunday, February 3, 2008, regarding the closing of the Side Door Coffee House. We realize that they have grown up attending these wonderful producitons all their lives! As some wise person once said, "All good things must come to an end," we know that the time has come to exit stage left; not to return. The Stage will be dark.

For further information regarding this closing, please read page 11 of RPC's Annual Congregation/Corporate Meeting Report, dated February 3, 2008.