Third Places….
I am very interested in hearing from others who have successfully launched a Third Place… Our leadership team is exploring doing just that as a way to connect with our community, provide an employment option for our youth and others, and as a way to fund ministry.
A third place is neutral ground, inclusive and promotes social equality, conversation is the central activity, it is frequented by regulars who welcome newcomers, it is a non-pretentious, homey place that fosters a playful mood. Like Starbucks! Home is a first place, Work is a second place and Starbucks or other cafe’s or places like Barnes and Nobel are third places.
I am interested in feeback from any who have done this successfully. But also offer a quote from Len Sweet’s new book “The Gospel According to Starbucks” for your interaction….
“Church used to be a third place of choice, a meeting house, a sacred place where the community gathered for governing, for mourning, for celebrating, for relationship building. But churches increasingly became not relational space but propositional place. Instead of going there to connect with God and with others in meaningful relationship, people started going to church to be convinced of transcendent truth, or , if they already numbered among the convinced, to have their beliefs and religious convictions confirmed from the pulpit. The church lost credibility as a place for sacred relationship when it chose to specialize in formulating and advancing a better spiritual argument. The result is that people who came to the meeting house got connected with ideas and formulas more than they did with God and with other people.” p 132
What do you think? I think sweet is right on and that is one of several reasons why we are pursuing the idea of opening a third place in our community to do again what the church used to do. And then out of those relationships we hope to make a connection with our new friends to our congregation’s life and ministry. It seems to me that emerging churches must consider options like these that get us out into the community making authentic connections and relationships with people who will not come inside our churches…. Thoughts???
23 Jan 2007 Martin Hutchison
Thanks for your post Martin, on third places. Just today, Stan Dueck and I went looking for a third place to find a wifi connection and relax a little.
You named national chains as third places. The third place I like the most is called, “The Living Room”. It is a small chain in San Diego. The owners buy houses, gut them out, take out a few walls, and then put in old wooden dining sets and sofas. The sell unique types of foods and, coffee, teas, smoothies and other drinks. Living Rooms are always full of people. Often churches use them for committee meetings and even small Bible studies. THose activities don’t seem to detract the college students who come to study.
I hope you are able to set-up a third place in your community! Be sure to include free wifi. Will you also have any art exhibitions?
Jeff Glass
Hey Jeff…. what a great thing… a comment to get the conversation going! THANKS!
I like the idea of old houses…I see some challenges… like parking, location, limiting size, public safety like sprinklers and even handicapped accesibility. About how many people can fit in the old houses at once?
You bet free wifi is a MUST. As is comfy chairs, couches, and art! Also in my thoughts are fairtrade coffee, live music on certain nights, especially accoustic, pottery mugs, recycling coffe grounds to organic farms and other recycling. Kinda a place to put some of our core values into practice. Especially the one about relationships that matter. This third place will be a place where relationships can form, grow, and sustain people.
Also, the national naming was intentional… as I wasn’t sure how many people know about “third places” and I wanted to get the point accross with ones that everyone might recognize.
Personally, I agree Jeff, the local ones are best.
Ours will be the BEST in Salisbury!
Here’s a link to a third place that I just found out about that is in line with what I want to do with our church at an independant location… http://princestreetcafe.com/. Thanks to Ryan Braught for this connection. I will be going there soon to check it out!
Another link that I found in Rev! Magazine… http://www.ebenezerscoffeehouse.com. Both of these sites have links to their roasters…. both are selling fair trade or stewardship coffee.
Actualy ebenezers is more in line with what we have in mind. They hold worship services in the coffee shop on Saturday night. Kind of a postmodern well — love the concept! And they say upfront that the proceeds are to support the missions of the church. I must go there soon with a team from here to see how all this works. Very interesting to find places already doing what I envision for our congregation.
Guess this will remain a dream in my heart for a little while longer… was too radical for some of my leadership team to wrap their arms around…. but some did and they will help make this a reality in it’s time!
http://www.holygroundscafe.com/ is another one that found recently that I would just love to do here in NC! We have great college communities around here and could easily see myself doing this as my ministry intead of a traditional church. Marty, if you ever really want to do this let me know…I love, love, love the concept.