Sweet 23

Where is your favorite third place? It doesn't have to be a coffee shop, of course. It can be any place that is not home and not the workplace. Is your church a meaningful thrid place? If so, what does it do to fill that need? If your church fails as a sacred place for connecion, what is missing?

I like to have many options as third places so that I can third place in the environment that best fits me at any particular time. i really like out-of-the way places though - they seem to have more character, regulars and less traffic. I like going to places that aren't on the main road, that are two doors down from the busy Starbizzle.

I don't think our church is a meaningful third place. The only couches we have are in the prayer room, which isn't wildly connective or the ones in the worship center, but those all face the same way (yes, I'm talking about pews, silly). I don't think that churches need to be third places though. Why do we need to build a third place when we can rent it for the price of a coffee? I don't think any church needs to fill the need of a third place, instead they need to teach infiltration and missionality as a way of life. God lives at Starbucks just as much as He lives in the church (along that line, perhaps the first thing that needs to be taught is that people need to stop saying, "you can't do _________ in church!" like as if church is a magical place and not a elect people).