Tryst, a very cool coffee shop

Lately I’ve been researching the relationship between churches and Third Places. Many churches consciously strive to develop spaces and activities that invite the community into the church environment. As a result we are seeing many churches build coffee shops in their lobby and student centers that act as teen hangouts. On the other end of the spectrum are the churches and individuals who either establish a totally secular space out in the community, or else spend their time in the spaces that already exist. Both approaches have merit. Here are a few links I’ve discovered lately.

This blog seems to be a “road trip” to explore up and coming trends in college ministries. One of these trends is, as noted, the development of Third Spaces. This blog explores an article that analyzes this trend, but also mentions a study which looks at church design from the “outsider” perspective.

http://exploringcollegeministry.wordpress.com/2008/04/22/they-want-authentage/

This is the original article which presents the original research.

http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/article_main_page/0%2C1703%2CA%25253D167438%252526M%25253D200906%2C00.html?&emid=383

Blog about creating co-working spaces in local coffee shops:

http://fullyarticulated.typepad.com/sprawledout/2008/04/third-place-cof.html

Tryst, a cool coffee shop in Washington DC…the picture above is from Tryst.
http://www.cooltownstudios.com/mt/archives/000063.html

Finally, this blog is my latest favorite. I share a lot of the same perspectives as Jim, the author. The link below takes you to the first of several posts where Jim explores the pros and cons of building third place spaces. Go check him out.

http://jimsthirdspace.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/building-a-coffeehouse-instead-of-a-church/