Post Info // super fun stuff.
The Front Porch
From The Cultural Significance of the American Front Porch
The American front porch further represented the ideal of community in America. For the front porch existed as a zone between the public and private, an area that could be shared between the sanctity of the home and the community outside. It was an area where interaction with the community could take place.
Some good thought for what we are doing in our churches and our need to create some front porch spaces to invite people into our communities of faith.
LT said...
102/2/05 1:53 PM | Comment Link |
i love how you’re thinking these days bro. thinking about space is so critical and it’s interesting how people think that it’s just a suburban thing, southern thing to have one. the idea of the porch exists in the inner city too and in a slightly different way but it is a place for interaction.
geoff said...
202/2/05 1:54 PM | Comment Link |
‘ve been thinking about this recently as it relates to our community in Lexington. we need to create a space somewhere between the ‘church building’ (too sterile?) and the ‘living room’ (too intimate?). the front porch is a wonderful image….certainly a challenge for the emerging missional church to create a space that blends public (allowing for some level of anonymity) and the private (familial ‘tone’). i’m interested to hear more of you thoughts on this…
oh..one other factor. when you are a poor community and can’t buy a coffee shop or even a multi-function building renting a ‘front porch’ might be the only option - apart from going into our homes.
todd said...
302/2/05 1:55 PM | Comment Link |
geoff,
great question at the end. we’ve been blessed to have that “coffee shop” multipurpose building where we can meet the world half-way (not perfect, but a much better picture of incarnational ministry than my past experiences at least!). btw, we’re hosting two local bands in our building tomorrow night. i think we can expect at least 100 + people from the community to begin building true friendships with…or at the very least giving them a space to belong to our faith community.
anyways, I think you make a great point that this cannot be the extent of our seeking to incarnate the love of Christ to the world. a great challange indeed!
thanks for stopping by, i’m reading more about your community down there and i am liking what i see!
jake said...
402/2/05 1:55 PM | Comment Link |
You can’t fully appreciate a good glass of sweet tea in the South without a front porch. Good stuff, next we should press our Philly church to serve sweet tea. ;)