Building Community

(inspired by The Connecting Church, by Randy Frazee
)

The Western world is characterised by increasing busyness and mobility, which, research suggests, results in increasing isolation and loneliness. There are many cultures and sub-cultures that buck this trend.  Research of these cultures suggest that there are fifteen characteristics that must be present in order for genuine community to be experienced. These can be very helpful as we think about what it means to be a Church community and how we can be agents of community to those around suffering at the hands of the Western ‘ideal’! Whether you agree with them all or not, certainly they are good provokers.

Finding a Common Purpose
1. Authority – having a clear leadership that is responsible for forming and guarding the community life to which the rest of the community is accountable.
2. Common Creed – having a shared understanding of the beliefs and practices that guide the community
3. Traditions – having practices that perpetuate the purpose and ‘common creed’ and pass them on to the people of that community, particularly to the children. Things that reflect our distinct way of doing things (from the sacraments to birthdays!)
4. Standards – Guidelines that help to determine what is normal behaviour in the community, written or unwritten.
5. Common Mission – having something that brings the individuals of a group together and knits them into a cohesive family.

Finding a Common Place
6. Spontaneity – “acting or taking place without any outside force or cause”, spontaneously going in and out of each others lives
7. Availability – being people that are ready, willing and eager to lend an ear or a hand, or, especially, some time! Making more time available for each other.
8. Frequency – spending a good amount of time together. Seeing each other more often (“Body life is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and embraces the full spectrum of our activities”).
9. Common Meals – Eating together is foundational to community building
10. Geography – finding community in neighbourhood greatly enhances the experience of community

Sharing Common Possessions
11. Interdependency – not dependence or independence, but building a life that gives out and makes room for others to give in.
12. Intergenerational life – allowing the generations to inspire one another, building a family feel.
13. Children – effective places of community accept the responsibility to effectively care for, and train its children, principally by including ad accepting them in all levels of community life.
14. Responsibility – consistently thinking about our responsibilities to each other, not our rights or needs
15. Sacrifice – giving self-sacrificially for the sake of others and the life of the community.