Churches and Faith Communities as Third Places/ Third Place Stories
The greatest experience I’ve ever had about a church as a “third place,” was during my trip to Egypt. Every day, after I had visited one or more of the typical tourist spots around Cairo, I had time to explore the city, and one place I went to was to the St. Virgin Mary Church in Maadi, a church on the banks of the Nile. The first time I walked to the church, it was mid-week, and I noticed there were many people there, making me think there was some special function going on. I did not want to interrupt it, so I left, to come back the next day. When I returned, I saw the site was still as busy as before, but I also saw people coming and going from the church. I decided to go in, and found that there was no special event going on: families were coming there to be together, to have a picnic next to the Nile, to be with their fellow Christians, finding it was a safe space for them…
I walked around, visited the chapel, prayed in it with some of the others who did the same thing, visited the bookstore and bought some books and iconic images, and just took in the situation. I knew, from my reading, the church used to be a place the community came together, and here I saw, that was exactly what was happening. Christians, being a minority in Egypt, had to create such spaces, but they did so in a way which was welcoming, as I was a stranger and no one was confused with my presence there, and
it was clear, what I saw was quite normal there. I have, ever since, have had that experience in my mind, making me think we should encourage something similar in the United States – churches should be open, and seen as a place people can go, not just for worship, not just for various functions, but just to go and be there, as a place they can go and be with each other, as a place they can eat together, so that they can better understand their church as a safe place for them, as a place where they can truly form and establish a community, where they do not have to wait for the church to invite them with some function to go there.
-Henry C Antony Karlson, III