While in South Africa, I had the privilege of being part of 3rd Place, a creative community of faith located in Pretoria. You can check it out at @3rd_place on Twitter or visit Third Place online.
The church gathering embraces the creatives, the Gospel, the realities of Jesus, and the people on the margins in a beautiful, quality way.
When I walked into Third Place, I saw a piece of artwork depicting Jesus as if he was on the cross next to a pair of nuclear warheads, a beating heart, an astronaut, a motorcycle, and a skull with a snake coming out of it’s eye. Let’s be honest: This isn’t your normal church artwork.
Yet as I discussed the creative expression with the pastor, Pierre, I began to see the themes of death, loss, redemption, hope, and transformation emerge. The artist, Houghaard, doesn’t create based on image as much as shape–allowing the shapes to create the art. I was moved by his creative offering as well as the story of God’s work in his life.
The walls of Third Place are marked by the arts–everything from stickers to outlines to chalk drawings. The concept behind the church’s name is much like the thought-train behind Starbucks. We have a primary place (home), and a secondary place (usually work) where we spend our time. Where is the third place?
For the creative and not-so-creative community of Pretoria, this is the Third Place. And it’s lovely–a place where people can make their journeys of faith at their own pace, where you can belong long before you believe, and where Jesus can have His way in our lives with each of our unique sets of gifts.
One of the hallmarks of the church is quality. This may sound odd, but I instantly noticed the coffee cups–thick, black disposable paper cups which I’d hesitate to throw away they were so nice. Most churches I know would by the least expensive coffee cups, Third Place purchased some of the fanciest I’ve ever seen–communicating that they’re a place of quality, they celebrate quality, and they believe people are quality.
I couldn’t help but think that’s one reason we need creatives unleashed in all our faith communities. They push us beyond cheap knock-offs or what’s merely fast and easy to invest in better quality, more unique, one-of-a-kind expressions of faith. And that’s something the world is longing for.
