Read a great article the other day by Mark Batterson, lead pastor of National Community Church in D.C., that really had me cheering. It was one of the Fermi Words issues - www.fermiproject.com - and Mark was talking about the Church as a “third place”, using the analogy of the town wells where Jesus frequently met with people. (UPDATE - they just posted an excerpt the Catalyst website too - go here.) Now, as a guy who went to grad school for city planning, I was thrilled to see him quoting Ray Oldenburg’s book “The Great Good Place”, which coined the sociological term “third place” - meaning “a generic designation for a great variety of public places that host the regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gathering of individuals beyond the realms of home and work.”
Do you think church is frequently thought of by the general public as a place for “the regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gathering of individuals…” Heck no! If anything, it’s the irregular (Christmas & Easter), involuntary (Alright Mom and Dad, I’ll go because you’re making me, but when I can decide on my own, I’m outta here), formal (Let’s put on our Sunday best now and execute all our traditions well today, because if God really cares about anything, it’s the externals!), and begrudgingly tolerated (Lord, if you’re there, this is so lame and I’m praying that you’ll help me make it through this hour) gathering of individuals for 1 unique hour on Sunday that is often so irrelevant to the other 167 hours in our weeks that it’s no shocker that much of our society has either already left it or has it comfortably pigeonholed.
I love what National Community Church has done by meeting at the theater at Union Station in D.C., and am a big fan of what they’ve done with Ebenezer’s Coffeehouse (I’ve got to get there for a visit someday soon). Both are efforts to simply intersect with people’s daily lives. Hmm, how interesting? Truth meeting people where they are, instead of insisting they come to it at a certain hour on a certain day.
Mark, thanks for your article, your heart for people to meet this great God we know, and the leadership you’re providing to transform the Church out of rigid rituals into a Truth influence that can meet people wherever they are. Mark’s blog is evotional.com if you want to read more about what he has to say.
Hi, I'm Scott and this is my bio attempt. God has a sense of humor... I work at a church. That's not the path I figured coming out of grad school, but when He called, thankfully I didn't try to win a battle of merits between my plan and His. So, how'd that play out? Well, in 2001 I left commercial real estate and went on staff at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA. This place captured my heart the first time I walked in the doors. God, thanks for letting me do this for as long as you let me do it!