05/29/2026
Dear Friends
Welcome to worship for Sunday, May 31, 2026.
Can we be a ‘third place’ once again?
I recently read a news article that asked the question if third places are disappearing. By ‘third place’ it meant an idea that has been around for a long time. I remember reading about in the 1990’s in a book by Leonard Sweet that suggested Starbucks had done an excellent job of becoming many people’s ‘third place’. He wondered if the church could learn something from Starbuck’s about reclaiming ‘third place’ status. (We have)
What do we mean by a ‘third place’? A ‘third place’ can be many different things but it is the answer to the question, where do you go after home (first place) and work or school (second place). The ‘third place’ is often a place you choose to go. A place where you find comfort and are re-created. A ‘third place’ is a social location, where you run into old friends and make new acquaintances. A ‘third place’ is where other people are present even if you are not interacting with them, people in the same bar or restaurant, at the hockey arena, concert hall, or museum.
When I used to teach about ‘third places’ I often used an example taken from the much-loved children’s book, “The Hockey Sweater”. It opens like this, “The winters of my childhood were long, long seasons. We lived in three places, the school, the church, and the skating rink. But our real life was on the skating rink.” Here the ‘third place’ and all that is indicated by it, is made explicitly clear by the passion of a young Quebecois hockey fan.
You can likely identify with the idea of a ‘third place’. You may even rightfully say that all kinds of ‘third places’ still exist. They do!! What the news story I read suggested was that ‘third places’ are becoming more rare because many people, and young people in particular, are choosing to avoid them. Time spent in ‘third places’ is otherwise being spent on social media, on demand streaming, and online gaming. Many will point out, and I agree, that doesn’t mean these tools are inherently bad but our need for ‘third places’, the sites and sounds of social connection are not just a convenience, they are a necessity.
Good emotional and mental health stem from being present in ‘third places’. This is especially true for youth who are in the process of developing patterns for good emotional and social health. Socialization, like conversation, is a skill and a learned behaviour. We don’t need information about being in gathered spaces nor do we need virtual substitutes for it. We need to be in the midst of it, trying, failing, being awkward, occasionally succeeding. We can’t overcome loneliness by remaining alone. If only there was a place, third or otherwise, that offered an alternative?
Church has the potential to be an exceedingly positive ‘third space’. That was Leonard Sweet’s theory and belief. We offer a public space where anyone can enter. We offer at least one hour each week when you can be assured that others will be present. In worship we use our voice, we shake a hand, we close our eyes, we open our hearts and minds. This is pretty good ‘third place’ training.
Above all we learn that when we leave the “shell of worship” we do not go out in to the world alone but in the companionship of One who is present in every other place we would enter.
Grace and peace,
Michael
Share the service link:
Worship and Music for Sunday, May 31, 2026 from Charleswood United ...
