Third Place and Community Meals

How do you know when you belong in the neighborhood?  What constitutes a community?  Once we graduate from school we spend a large part of our day in the place where we work.  Second to the work place is the home as a place where a large amount of time is spent; for some the home may exceed the workplace depending upon circumstances and occupations.  While both of these places are important for the functioning of a society there is the need to have a place in between them; especially since both are generally private places. 

For a healthy sense of community to emerge, in any neighborhood, there must be a place where the people of the neighborhood gather and interact with one another.  Without this relational interaction the community is dysfunctional, consisting of isolated individuals with no connection to one another other than the walls of the houses between them.  A healthy community provides a sense of belonging and relational connection for all the people who inhabit the neighborhood. 

Third Place is a term used by sociologists to describe public space where neighborhoods can gather for socializing that brings people together.  The Lititz Springs Park serves this purpose for the town of Lititz with various events that foster the socializing process.  The banquet Matthew the Tax Collector held was a form of Third Place.  Though it was in his home it consisted of the town’s outcaste (because of lifestyle or occupation), religious leaders and Jesus and his disciples, eating together as people with God in their midst.    

Jesus is walking through town and sees Matthew sitting at his tax collecting booth.  Matthew is despised not just because he’s rich and collecting taxes but because the taxes are for a foreign government and an occupying army whose culture and beliefs are antagonistic to the Jewish people.  There’s a divide; a social, political and economic barrier between Matthew and Jesus.  Instead of staying in his place and leaving Matthew in his, Jesus crosses the barrier and invites Matthew to be one of his followers.  Matthew is so overcome with joy that he holds a grand feast inviting other despised tax collectors, prostitutes and sinners.  Jesus eats with the people, along with his disciples and, apparently, the Jewish religious leaders who are criticizing Jesus for doing this. 

Matthew’s banquet is a neutral place where God in Christ and the various groups in society gather to interact.  This interaction isn’t without its conflict, such as the judgmental attitudes of the religious leaders.  Still the town is there, eating and relating with one another, seeing each other, and hearing one another’s stories.    

The Community Meal at LititzMC is about creating a Third Place in Lititz.  This Third Place actually extends to northern Lancaster County because it encompasses anybody and everybody who comes from around the area.  People may know each other or be complete strangers.  Still we gather around food that creates a bond between strangers, breaking down social, political and economic barriers for people to authentically be together as people.  This Third Place is facilitating deeper relationships that, hopefully, will lead to holistic expressions of community in our neighborhoods.