Coffee, Art, & a Lighthouse

Introductions are a necessary element of any new venture and so I will begin there.

My name is Lauren Shepherd and I am a Jesus follower, wife to Jonathan Shepherd, and mom to 3 small humans, Rilynn, Wrenley, & Judah. I love finding beauty and joy in simple things; cool mornings, breeze near the water, movies on a rainy day, and sweet tea are a few of my favorite things. My husband, Jonathan, is an exceptional visual artist and has a passion for the arts community. I, while not skilled in most visual arts, love music, literature, and photography. Together, we represent a range of artistic expression that we believe are gifts from a creative and present God. For some time now we have felt our spirits stirring to do more within the arts community to share the love and purpose that God has for the people in it. And so, it's our privilege to share with you what's next for us...

We are prayerfully entering a new phase of ministry that is leading us to Southtown in downtown San Antonio, Tx. Our vision is to open a gallery styled coffee house that is quite literally half art gallery and half coffee house. We plan to create an atmosphere where artists, locals, and people of all ages, demographics, and beliefs can find respite from the division and animosity that is ravaging our society while experiencing a taste of what they were created for. For some time now, God has been an unwelcome and misunderstood "voodoo" in the arts industry and our hope is to reintroduce Him for who He is to the people who have been gifted and are loved by Him. Attributing the gift to the Giver, we want to be the fragrance of Christ to those in the arts community and in Southtown.

Now to explain the name. We've decided to brand ourselves as "Pharos: Gallery + Coffee House". Now, like most of you, I had no idea what "Pharos" was and didn't realize there was a distinction from "Pharaohs: Rulers of Ancient Egypt". In fact we stumbled across the term quite by accident.

Pharos is actually in reference to the 7th wonder of the world; a lighthouse on the island of Pharos known as the Lighthouse (or Pharos) of Alexandria, built around 280BC. At the time of its construction, it was one of mankind's greatest feats, second only to the pyramids. Being a lighthouse, its purpose was to guide sailors and ships to shore who were out at sea. Our desire for Pharos of San Antonio is through coffee & art, to offer hope & a glimpse of "home" to those who are struggling to find it.

We are just now in the beginning stages of this adventure and there is a lot that needs to happen in order to see this vision come to fruition. But we know that if God has called us, He will take care of the "how".

We would like to invite you to join us on this journey. Follow the blog, look out for social media updates, and see what progress is being made! We have substantial financial needs to get this thing off the ground so if you'd like to find out more, please ask us how you can get involved. There's a lot that needs to be done but we are sure that our God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.

Looking with excitement and anticipation to what lies ahead.