WHILE many others are struggling and even closing, one of Canada’s largest Christian bookstores is embarking on a major upgrade.

The groundbreaking ceremony took place May 15 for a $1 million expansion which will add more than 5,000 square feet to the House of James’s retail space – and will mark  a tweaking of the store’s philosophy.

The groundbreaking came in the midst of a sale marking the 35th anniversary for a bookstore which started as a coffee house ministry in Mission, and later moved to Abbotsford – the so-called ‘Bible belt,’ of B.C.

The centrepiece of the expansion is an enlarged coffee shop which will seat about 70 people, and will have a stage offering live music every weekend.

Lando Klassen, along with his wife Kathy, owns and manages the store. He says the venue will also be used for a variety of events:  comedy nights, art shows, lecture series, book signings, talks by authors, book discussion clubs and parenting seminars. He also hopes to host events for the whole community, such as all-candidates’ meetings during local elections.

Klassen sees the revamped store as “a community gathering place. We want to develop a place that has more reasons to come to, than just to buy a book.”

While the store has a loyal customer base, “the biggest challenge is attracting the 18 to 30 crowd.” Klassen says this is the same challenge many churches face.

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For this younger generation, the expanded coffee shop will offer food and entertainment – somewhere to go on a Friday night other than the movies.

He wants the store to be “a welcoming place for seekers.”

The store grew out of an outreach coffee house ministry started by a group of young people and pastors in Mission, B.C. in 1970.

The ministry morphed into The House of James Jesus Book and Record Shop in 1973 – a tiny store with a suite in the back where Klassen and several friends lived.

The name was taken from the book of James in the Bible, where the theme of putting faith to work is emphasized.

The bookstore moved to a larger rented retail space in Abbotsford in 1983.

The revamped coffee shop is not exactly a return to the store’s roots. Klassen says, “The first coffee house was a mission, to spread the gospel. Now it is a business that has a mission through what we sell, encouraging people in their walk with God.”

Besides the coffee shop, the expanded store, which should be ready by October, will include more room for books.

The youth section will triple in size, and there will be more room for children’s books, Bibles, general books, gifts and other items.

                      – Jim Coggins

June 2008