Church and Coffee

My next door neighbor in our apartment complex in seminary (Louisville, KY - SBTS) was a laid-back, no sugar eating guy who played a guitar and a ukulele, and had a bunch of daughters with hurt-your-eyes blond hair.  Matthew, near the end of seminary, really got passionate about theology, finally started buying some books, and started to feel the pull to plant a church in old Louisville.

At first I was skeptical, but he kept talking about it.  That was a few years back.  Today, Matthew is pastoring a missional church called Ekklesia and running an independent coffeehouse called Sunergos Coffee.

The longer I pastor, the more I think the way forward in the missional church is by getting into and investing in the community through "great good places" or "third places."

I have a feeling the topic of "third places" will come up again soon.

Comments

[Scot McKnight]

Steve,
I'm with you on this "third places" -- whatever that means. I call these places "permeable walls" -- where the wall between Church and World is permeable enough that one is not always sure when we are passing from one to the other.

The challenge is for each of us to find such places where we can meet and live with our neighbors. Jesus' used table fellowship like that.

I blogged about this long ago, well in blog years long ago. About two or three weeks. Maybe four.

[Steve McCoy]

Thanks Scot. I'll look for it on your blog. The two things I called these places are obviously given by others, but I do like the "texture" of "permeable walls." Thanks for introducing me to it.