Establishing Third Places

I just came across some notes that a friend of mine, Dan Desrosiers, shared with me about the concept of “Third Places.”

Sociologist Ray Oldenburg has been credited with writing about this concept of creating community by focusing on what he defines as “Third Places.”

Third places refers to a location where people spend time between home (‘first’ place) and work (‘second’ place).

Simple defined, they are locations where people exchange ideas, enjoy social time, and build relationships.

For young people, many third places are now virtual but Oldenburg reminds us that “the most effective third places for building real community seem to be physical places where people can easily and routinely connect with each other: churches, parks, recreation centers, cafes, gyms and even fast-food restaurants.”

Click HERE to read how Starbucks has created the ultimate third place culture.

If third places are a natural opportunity to build community, how should our International Churches work to created third places for internationals? It’s really a great conversation.

The reality is our European IC’s should be the best “third place” in our city where people find an attractive opportunity to build relationships and find answers to the meaning of life.

We want to encourage you to identify the third places in your city and talk with your leadership team about how your IC can become the default connection for people searching for a meaningful community in your city.

Don’t forget to take a moment and register for our 2019 FEIC Summit. See information below.

We’re praying for you this week!

Larry