GroshLink

As I look forward to visiting Pittsburgh next week, I'll return to some favorite 3rd places for extended, exploratory conversations regarding following Christ in higher education over tea, coffee, and various pastries. Why?

Because 3rd places are part of the mix of identifying, encouraging, and equipping Christian faculty to be a redeeming influences upon the people, ideas, and structures of higher education. AND the conversations bring great joy as I am filled with memories of, live in the present because of, and carry into the future 

1. what I learned at the feet of faculty & friends at Grove City College (and later at Geneva College, not to mention various lectures/presentations throughout the area including at CMU, Pitt, PTS)
2. ideas, decisions, and actions the Spirit set upon my path by communion with God through the Word, the writings/words/life of the people of God, interpretation of Signals of Transcendence found in creation/family/relationships/current events -- leading to rich dialogue/fellowship
3. friendships and family growing in the joy of the Lord in these places of refreshment (I so much miss the musuem-library-cafe combination).

Great coffeehouses embody four elements. First is Creation, a relationship more about the earth, stewardship, and accountability than about "products." Great coffeehouses are places of Calling, where, as Frederick Buechner said, "your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." As individual callings meet, they develop Community, where divisive issues become shared concerns, and through which we find Communion, the celebration of the mystery and majesty of the cosmos in each other and the world. This is the cultural potential of the third place . . .

College life presents two parallel tracks: the work your teacher is supposed to make you do, and the things you explore to honour your heart and soul in your own parallel quest. Countless times I've heard teachers and students say the most fulfilling parts of the college experience are the extended conversations, the relationships that develop and expand on the assignments. If you're just taking classes, you're wasting much of what is most valuable about the college experience. And a great coffeehouse might just be the environment not only to bring your deepest desires and longings to life, but to allow you to do so for others. -- Great coffeehouses, great conversations, and the college experience

What a joy to be formed in the image of God and receive the call to serve the Lord on campus as part of the gathered people of God known as InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's Graduate & Faculty Ministry!  Join with me in prayer for ground to be tilled, seeds to be sown, crops to be watered and flourish, and for a rich harvest to be born from next week's conversations as they fit into the larger stream of God's work in 'da Burgh, on campus, in the lives of students/faculty.