No, not this one…
I was reading today over at Notcot (a great site for checking out aesthetically pleasing miscellany) about a store in Manhattan’s ever-hip Lower East Side called GrandOpening. The owners, brothers Ben and Hall Smyth, reinvent and re-open this 400-square foot space every three months — thus, the name “GrandOpening.”
In its current iteration, New Yorkers can test their table tennis skills against one another in pickup games or even in a season-ending tournament — the LES Cup. It’s not just for ping-pong players, either. Fans can watch from a small set of bleachers on the inside, or from a live feed on the web.
Call it a manifesto or a vision statement, but here is something interesting from their website:
GrandOpening is a store.
GrandOpening will have many “Grand Openings”.
GrandOpening isn’t afraid to change its face.
GrandOpening will engage and entertain the community.
GrandOpening could be yours for a month, or two, or three.
GrandOpening might be different the next time you come by
If I were still living out there, I think I would want to stop by and play a game. Although it might border on being a bit precious, there is something whimsical and playful about this idea. A lot of church communities could benefit from some whimsy from time to time. I mean, would it work to substitute a church’s name in the purpose statement above?
headsparks* 
it’s funny because being a librarian is in many ways like a secularized version of being a pastor. reading this post made me think of how libraries and librarians are basically faced with a “change or die” scenario right now. one of the things that’s come out of this is the idea of “play”…allowing forward-thinking librarians to play, explore, experiment with new technologies, ideas, etc in order to find ways to serve their communities better and make libraries more relevant to people’s lives. i think the idea of churches or pastors having the opportunity to “play” is a good one.
Rich — I’m really intrigued by your idea of the link between pastors & librarians… Both are a resource to help point people in the right direction, both work in places loaded with lots of preconceived notions about what it is like (and what they are like), both need to be extremely creative & resourceful (often on a very tight budget)…
Agreed re: the necessity of ‘play’ — church as more than entertainment or fun, but genuine play as you described (exploring, experimenting, learning via breakthrough, spontaneous joyfulness)…