Wednesday, March 1, 2006 | 7:14 a.m.
Walking into the Rock n' Java is like entering a strange dimension, one invented by teenagers hopped up on coffee and rock 'n' roll.
The place is an ode to the punk rock skater culture. One wall is lined with skateboard merchandise and video games. Band memorabilia adorn another wall.
Dozens of bouncing teenagers bombard the place nightly to hear live music that ranges from hip-hop to acoustic to hard-core metal acts.
As eclectic as the scene appears, it is devoid of any clue to the underlying nature of Rock n' Java coffee lounge - except maybe for the lack of cuss words coming from the musicians. The lounge, off Eastern Avenue and Pebble Road, is the brainchild of evangelical Christians.
John Steffy, 38, and his wife, Debbie, 37, opened Rock n' Java out of a love of Christ and a love of teens. But they are quick to stress that the shop is not a "Christian coffee house" any more than "In-N-Out is a Christian hamburger stand," Debbie Steffy said. Both businesses just happen to be owned by Christians.
The Steffys wanted their lounge to project a hip and wholesome image, creating a space where kids of all ages would want to hang out and a place their parents wouldn't mind dropping them off. Call it a community center with an edge.
"We really just want this to be a positive environment," John Steffy said. "This town has so many casinos, bars and gambling, and there's really no place for kids to go where they are not exposed to that."
The counter boasts crazy coffee concoctions that resemble ice cream sundaes more than cups of Joe. The food choices include chili-cheese dogs and Heavenly Hash Brownies (the 1950s marshmallow recipe, of course).
The Steffys wanted a place that avoided being as explicitly religious as the Coffee Lounge on Rainbow Boulevard near U.S. 95 (formerly the Holy Grounds Coffee Lounge). The couple didn't want to scare away clients.
"I'm not ashamed of the Gospel, but kids nowadays feel offended (by Christianity) because they don't understand. And they don't understand because they don't know anyone who is Christian," Debbie Steffy said.
The owners of the reJAVAnate Coffee Lounge at Flamingo and Pecos roads, which opened within a month of Rock n' Java in November 2004, similarly created a place that implicitly projected Christian values without being explicitly Christian, co-owner Bruce Ewing said.
The owners of reJAVAnate had tinkered with catering specifically to Christians, but they were persuaded not to do so by a Christian who served as their mentor when they went to Seattle to attend "coffee college" to learn how to run a coffee shop.
The mentor, Kent Holloway of Fox Hollow Coffee, advised them that they would be more effective - both economically and from a ministry standpoint - if they kept their faith in the background, reaching out to a broader customer base. The advice has paid off.
"We have evenings where we have a Bible study in the back of the room, and a gay and lesbian organization at the front of the room at the same time, and everyone gets along," Ewing said, speaking for co-founders Greg Davis, Fred Harmon and Andrew Conlu.
"... Our motto is that we want people to feel good from the grounds up."
Just as In-N-Out famously references Bible verses on its packaging, the owners of Rock n' Java and reJAVAnate try to indirectly minister to the people who come into their coffee shops, even if it's only to offer a smile and friendly conversation with drink orders.
For the Steffys, ministering involves developing relationships with the teens who come in, particularly the ones who would never set foot in a church.
Debbie Steffy said she and her husband don't explicitly preach. Mostly they just listen to their customers talk about their problems and try to be a positive force in their lives.
"We just love them," Debbie Steffy said. "They know that we are always here."
The result is that many of Rock n' Javas regular customers have taken to calling Debbie Steffy Mom. Larry Sebring, 16, and Cash Colligan, 17, both nonpracticing Catholics, came initially for the music. But they hung out there so much she finally put them to work.
"Everyone who is here once comes back again because it's cozy and comfortable," said Colligan, a guitarist in the local alternative rock band the Cab.
"John and Debbie - they care more about the kids then they do about themselves."
Fellow co-worker Amy Graybill, 17, said working for the Steffys helped change her life.
"I've had one of the hardest years, and I don't think I would have made it," Graybill said. "I would have turned to drugs and alcohol if I hadn't been here."
Debbie Steffy said she is drawn to the kids with the "tattoos and piercings and drug issues" because of her own teenage experience as "crazy rockabilly." In those days, she wanted to open a bar. When she became a Christian at 21 through the first Harvest Crusades in California, she said she changed that dream to a coffee shop.
But it wasn't until Feb. 25, 2004, after seeing Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" at the Regal Cinemas Colonnade 14 that the Steffys decided to open their own place. They saw a "space available" sign next to the theater and felt moved to take the plunge.
The Steffys had no experience in operating their own business, much less one that involved both food and music. The first year was "trial by fire," John Steffy said. They had to sell their house to keep the place going, and he still works full time as an information technology director for Findlay Management Group.
Part of that is the nature of starting a new business, Ewing said. He and his partners have also kept their day jobs.
Catering to teenagers, many of whom attend concerts without buying anything, makes it tough to turn a profit, John Steffy said. But they are still working at it because they see lives being changed.
"It's really cool the way the Lord works," Debbie Steffy said.
Christina Littlefield can be reached at 259-8813 or at [email protected].
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