I am on our churches stewardship committee and we have talked about how do we become a place that we will become peoples third space. Our committee is starting to do that and has started mulling this question over.
It once was the center of the local area with more people walking to church on Sundays than driving which means we do not have a large parking lot. The church used to have dinners, and other social activities, it seemed at least once a month.
It also had a large and active youth group. Today we are like most churches, almost no youth, struggling to maintain a reduced membership, struggling to maintain and meet a barebones budget.
We just hired a new Pastor and I gave him the book the “Third Space” and he read it in a couple of weeks and when I talked to him he was excited by its message.
In the next several months we will be looking at ways to become the third space in our area where people want to come and participate.
A place where their children are safe and welcomed, where they know who sits in the pews with them and who live next to them and hopefully, they will want to socialize with.
We will be exploring Dinners, events, and other ideas to see if we can create a third place for our neighborhood, both for our neighbors and help our congregation at the same time.
I would not be truthful if I did not say we are also looking to increase our donation base. Next month I will talk about some of the ideas we will be exploring and the activities we hope all will be enjoying. I will let you know our progress over the next several months.
If you have struggled with this question and others then go to Patterson2Y2R,com/blog should be a place you should visit to share your stories and challenges.
I have an ear that would love to hear your stories. Let’s taste the real meaning of life. I am still working on my course with the goal of launching a starter course, and I will keep you abreast as to how the process goes.
If you want to participate in this process and join my first class please send me an email to bobchuckpatterson@yahoo.com
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