August 2, 2009
Rev. David Boyd
I'm indebted to Hayim Herring, the author of an article in the June 29th, 2009 edition of the Alban Weekly, for providing food for thought for today's sermon. Hayim is a Jewish rabbi.
A couple of years ago, I was walking downtown from here. It was lunch time and I was either going to meet someone for lunch or going to grab a sandwich. I walked by Oso Negro and ran into someone I knew; he joked with me and said, "wouldn't it be nice if you had a congregation the size of those that come here. This is kind of like a congregation of coffee drinkers." We laughed a bit, but I've always thought about that little joke and thought there was more truth to it than not—the part about those that gather at Oso Negro being like a congregation.
Oso Negro would be what sociologists today are calling "third places." Wikipedia says this about third places: Many church religious leaders such as Rabbi Herring are pushing congregations to think of themselves as "third places." It's an interesting idea and not that far-fetched. Rabbi Herring points out that congregations are places for ethical reflection and also places of spiritual formation and transformation.
In his little article, Rabbi Herring said that we live in an age of what he calls 4 A's: Anything, anyone, anytime, anywhere. It's the idea that you can almost get anything at anytime anywhere. Anyone can be their own expert; anyone can manage a stock portfolio, find a diagnosis on the internet, or get ordained on the internet, for example. Goods and services are available to us at anytime. And anywhere in real time or virtually, we can experience cultures from around the world. Rabbi Herring says that these 4 A's raise questions of meaning, which is a good thing for congregations, but likely a sign of the anxiety that many are feeling in this day and age. Herring suggests a few questions that arise from the 4 A's:
I wonder if the writer of the letter to the church in Ephesus, known to us as Ephesians, had lived today, would he or she have envisioned the church as the third place, for in essence, that is what it was. Ephesus was a bustling community where many cultures met and sometimes clashed. It was a business and political centre and was a challenging city in which to live. And into this busy city, a church blossomed. It was third place, aside from work and home, where people could engage the important questions and issues facing them, like the ones I named. It was a place of safety and hope; it was a place of solidarity and transformation. It was a place in which they found and met a God who loved them. Ultimately, it was a place to discover love and practice this radical love that Jesus embodied... in this Ephesus church.
Does this sound like a third place? I think so.
Third places are places of transformation and change. Part of our task and calling is not to replace the Tim Horton's of the world or Oso Negro—I would want to stand in the way of anyone and their coffee, but our call is to be welcoming places where conversation flows and God's Spirit flows and people are heard and affirmed and transformed by love.
We have launched ourselves somewhat hesitatingly down the road to third places. But we need to be more intentional as a community of faith in being a third place for each other and for others in our community who might be seeking deeper connections to life, to God and to sisters and brothers.
May it be so. Amen.
The third place is a term used in the concept of community building to refer to social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home and the workplace. In his influential book The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburg calls one's "first place" the home and those that one lives with. The "second place" is the workplace — where people may actually spend most of their time. Third places, then, are "anchors" of community life and facilitate and foster broader, more creative interaction. All societies already have informal meeting places... Oldenburg suggests these hallmarks of a true "third place": free or inexpensive; food and drink, while not essential, are important; highly accessible: proximate for many (walking distance); involve regulars—those who habitually congregate there; welcoming and comfortable; both new friends and old should be found there.
Good questions!