Kenneth Schweighofer knew he wanted to bring a space to Germantown where people could congregate while grabbing a cup of coffee.

He believes that feat was accomplished with the late-December opening of Congregation Coffee at 3060 Forest Hill Irene Road. Schweighofer and his wife, Debra, own the coffee shop, which is on the site of the former Forest Hill Baptist Church.

"We're really trying to do something that is going to be longstanding and make this a special place,” said Schweighofer, a Germantown resident. “We thought it was important when we designed this development to do it in a way that brings people together."

'I found my coffee shop'

The Schweighofers moved to Germantown in 2019.

Kenneth Schweighofer was the head of marketing for ServiceMaster Brands. However, when the company announced in March 2021 that it was moving its headquarters from Downtown Memphis to Atlanta, Schweighofer opted to leave the company.

He later became the chief marketing officer for ATI Restoration based in Anaheim, California. At one point, Schweighofer was commuting every other week to California. But instead of moving, Schweighofer and his wife decided to stay in the area.

"We loved this place [Germantown] and the schools our boys are in, so we wanted to invest in the community," he said.

The couple made the decision to find a space where they could open a coffee shop in Germantown. They looked at different commercial properties in the area. Eric and Joanna Fuhrman of Crye-Leike Real Estate brought the vacant Forest Hill Baptist Church to their attention, even though the property wasn't initially for sale.

However, the Fuhrmans knew the owner of the church and believed they could make something happen if the Schweighofers were interested. The Fuhrmans saw the vision for what the Schweighofers could do with the space. After being hesitant at first about the church, Debra Schweighofer was later convinced it was the right place for them to start their business.

“My wife went to see it [former Forest Hill Baptist Church] because I was in California,” Kenneth Schweighofer said. “She called me up and said, ‘I found my coffee shop.’’’

Rebuilding a historic church

After purchasing the church in December 2021, the Schweighofers spent a couple years looking at ways to preserve it.

“I remember being underneath the church with the engineer and he stated it’s not a matter if it is going to come down, but a matter of when because there are a lot of structural issues," Schweighofer said.

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Schweighofer knew if the church had to be demolished, then it was important to do right by the woman who sold them the church as well to the Germantown community. Schweighofer, whose first career about 30 years ago was in architecture in Texas, started sketching things out.

He said they worked on different ways to rebuild the original Forest Hill Baptist Church that was built in 1925.

“We have the same footprint, but we rebuilt the original floorplan, which is about 2,000 square feet,” he said. “We also kept the design features from the church. We really did a lot of things to pay a nod and homage back to what this site was originally.”

What to expect at Congregation Coffee

Congregation Coffee serves all types of espresso drinks and coffees, hot chocolates and a variety of desserts. The coffee shop recently started serving teas and plans to expand its tea offerings over the next few months. There are also local baked goods from places such Sweet LaLa’s Bakery on Poplar Avenue.

Congregation Coffee’s interior space can hold up to 50 people. The back of Congregation Coffee consists of an eight-person conference room with glass doors and a large TV inside the area. There's also outdoor patio space.

In the center of the coffee shop is what Schweighofer described as the Congregation Table — a 12-foot-long table that sits about 10 people. He said the table is made out of a red oak tree previously on the church property. In addition, Congregation Coffee's conference room table, bar top table and other smaller coffee tables are also made from the red oak tree.

Congregation Coffee has two couches including one near the former church's stained-glass window. The space upstairs houses Schweighofer’s office and storage space.

Despite still being in its "soft opening" stage, Congregation Coffee has been busy — so busy that expansion is already on the table.

"We've already started looking at other locations to open to continue because of what we've been able to create," Schweighofer said. "We are very grateful and the community has received us really well. We feel very lucky and blessed for that. We want to continue to make sure that we're giving them the space that they're looking for and to honor the respect they've giving us by even doing business with us."

Other spaces at The Congregation

Congregation Coffee is just one part of The Congregation development, which the Schweighofers and business partner and longtime Germantown resident Jason Speed are behind.

In addition to the coffee shop, there are two roughly 5,000-square-foot buildings that are part of The Congregation development, one on each side of the coffee shop. The north building is located at 3050 S. Forest Hill Irene Road, while the south building is at 3070 S. Forest Irene Road.

Schweighofer said two-thirds of the Congregation’s south building is planned to be occupied by wealth management firm Benjamin Edwards.

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He noted spaces are still available for lease in The Congregation buildings, which have drawn interest from businesses.

“We are talking to other potential tenants, but nothing that has been solidified yet,” Schweighofer said. “We are looking for local and boutique businesses for the other bays to embrace the local flavor that has permeated this area of Germantown.”

Corey Davis is the Collierville and Germantown reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Corey.Davis@commercialappeal.com or 901-293-1610.

Congregation Coffee

Address: 3060 Forest Hill Irene Road

Hours: 6:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday

Online: instagram.com/congregationcoffee

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Congregation Coffee in Germantown: A first look at this new restaurant