Rev. Steve Edington

The “Third Place” is a sociological term coined by—among others—Robert Putnam in his book Bowling Alone. It’s the place, or places, where we go in addition to our first and second places. Our First Place is our family, however constituted. It’s where our primary relationships and responsibilities lie. Our Second Place is where we go to make a living, to support ourselves and our families, or those who rely on our support. The Third Place is where we go to find an extra dimension of meaning and purpose and direction in our lives. Most sociologists who use the term generally refer to civic organizations, community involvements, political activities, and the like as Third Places.

As another church year gets underway, I’ll share some of my thoughts on what it means for your religious community—in this case your liberal religious Unitarian Universalist community—to be one of your Third Places. I’ll focus on how this particular Third Place offers a place to stand, and a place to reach out from, in our current socio/cultural/political climate.

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