There’s a fancy social theory about the so-called “third place,” that area of habitation, usually a cafe, that functions as a sort of alternate living room, a clean and well-lighted place to go besides the familiar locations of work and home.

The third place, so it goes, is where folks congregate and form the solid bonds of community, which is exactly what manager Lorraine Chambers wants of her newly-opened Oak Harbor coffee shop, Solid Ground Cafe.

“It’s like you’re coming to my house for coffee,” Chambers said of Solid Ground, which is located just off Highway 20 behind the Arco gas station. “When people walk in here, they feel like they’re family,” she added. “This is an atmosphere that anyone can be comfortable in.”

Indeed, the cafe’s spacious quarters — about 4,000 square feet in all — are as cozy and inviting as a living room, complete with low-slung couches, tables, bookshelves and even a pool table. The pool table, along with a foosball game, is part of Solid Ground’s partner organization Youth Dynamics, a non-profit program occupying the same space that provides a safe, supervised place for kids to hang out.

According to Chambers and Pastor Don Jacques of Christ the King Community Church, the whole space is an integrated unit, providing beverages and pastries as well as a room in which Jacques holds services during the weekend. It’s an ambitious project that seeks to provide patrons a setting in which to escape the hectic bustle of everyday life and perhaps find spiritual inspiration.

Jaques, who took over the ministry about nine months ago after relocating with his family from Portland, describes the partnership of cafe, youth organization and church as a “win win win situation.” The business generated by the cafe will allow Youth Dynamics to retain the space with “a little less financial commitment,” he said, while also allowing the church more space.

However, Jaques (pronounced “jakes”) said the Christianity guiding the venture doesn’t mean he will “come out and start preaching to everyone who comes in.” Solid Ground’s spirituality is implicit rather than overt, and both Jaques and Chambers hope they can provide, well, a common ground for people of all persuasions and ages.

“It’s a real casual atmosphere,” Jaques said. “We hope that this place will become more and more a place where people will come in and enjoy a cup of coffee and make some friends,” he added, and if by chance anyone is seeking spiritual answers, “maybe our church will plug in there.”

Jaques said it’s his goal to make Christ the King as “unchurchly as possible,” in order to bring in folks who might otherwise be put off by the formalistic aspects of organized religion. In fact, Jaques characterized his sermons — which take place Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 10 a.m. — as “disorganized religion,” with an emphasis on informality, community and gentle spiritual guidance.

It seem the same would apply to the cafe itself. Chambers especially emphasized her desire that cafe clientele will cut across generations. “I’d love to see old and young people mixed together,” she said, adding that one of her favorite things to witness is two strangers sitting across from each other over a cup of coffee, becoming friends.

Wonderful stuff happens, Chambers said, “any time you put people together with drinks and food.”

Chambers, who is in the endearing habit of calling everyone “honey,” said running a cafe “was made for me,” as is evinced in her excitement over the future of Solid Ground. Right now, her goal is to possibly replace some older couches (she said she’s taking furniture donations) and, in general, to get the word out on the new business.

Somewhere down the road, Chambers said she can envision the cafe hosting live acoustic music and providing a place for church groups, book clubs and Bible study gatherings. She also speak of getting pies on the menu, to complement the existing array of pastries, teas, juices and coffee.

“The possibilities are just unlimited,” she said.