The Church as a "Third Place"

• What if church buildings were used more than 1 hour a week?


• What if the church had the same draw as say a movie theatre, Starbucks, or local diner?


• What if church wasn't just a place you attended but also a place where you could do life and in fact share life with other people?

As we began designing a downtown campus a few years ago with the help of some amazing builders, architects, and missional church consultants at CoGun, these were a few of the questions we were asking.  Cogun helped us think through several issues and proposed some great ideas.

One idea was to contact Michael Trent of ThirdPlace Consulting to help us design a cafe and develop a strategy for using it as part of the church's mission & vision.  Michael's innovative ideas and passion have been unbelievable.  He spent the latter part of last week and all weekend training our volunteers (who loved him!) and equipping us for success ... and the results have been amazing!  I love Michael's thoughts that "when people feel comfortable they stay; when they stay, they connect; when they connect, they form a relationship; with relationships come influence; and with influence, there is impact."

While we only have about 4 days of history, the 4 days have shown that the church can be a third place for people to hang out, share life, & do ministry (the 1st and 2nd places of life being home and work), and that a 3rd Place can increase a church's impact.  On Sunday morning the buzz and vibe coming from the cafe was incredible as people connected with each other.  On Sunday night we had dozens of students arrive 30 minutes early just to hang out in the cafe, playing video games, getting speciality coffee drinks and smoothies, and having fun.  On Tuesday morning a group of men met there to pray.  Later that morning dozens of middle schoolers arrived for breakfast, coffee, and a devotional.  On Tuesday night ~50 people met for dinner to organize our church's pastoral care team (by the way, this ministry is awesome!).  On Thursday morning high schoolers gathered for biscuits, lattes and prayer.  Later this month we'll feed the Northwest Football Team their pre-game meal and host the local Downtown Dalton Development Authority's annual meeting.

Seeing a building come alive and be used more than a couple of hours a week is not only good stewardship but it is strategic and missional.   But most importantly, seeing people do life, share experiences, and engage relationally around the context of Jesus Christ and His church is biblical and it's exciting!!