Church is Community (and vice-versa)
"Contemporary life can only be built and lived as fully human in the context of a community of faith. The church must reform its life to become a community for the humanization of people and social life. ' This is one of the thesis of J. H. Westerhoff in his article "The Church and the family" that was recently read by those who were in a family therapy course. Our society is so fragmented that the nuclear family is no longer enough to understand the term family. There are many people alone, single mothers, marriages that need a community to stabilize. We realize that many people who have come to a typical Church come as families or need a family to welcome them, or need to create an alternative family that provides their fundamental needs for order, economy, security, stability, education, support, etc. Many of these people will not be able to have an integral, dignified and healthy life if it is not within the framework of a community. Hence the need for the church to consider Church as Community, with the creation of family nuclei with people who are trained to do so and to welcome and coexist with the many today who need an alternative family to recompose their lives and overcome their problems that are more rampant than ever in our society. From a historical perspective this is true of the earliest Church which focused on the transformative spiritual reality of the resurrected Christ of faith, as they were prepared by Jesus of Nazareth's life and teaching, in which he formed a little community right from the beginning of his ministry. Yet, even as talk of community in the church is rooted in various concepts, primary among these is the notion of fellowship or koinonia. In Scripture Paul presents the relationship of believers to one another as a shared experience of salvation. This is often referred to in the Greek as koinonia. Within the Greek cultural context the concept had wide-ranging meanings related to various types of common enterprises. However, the New Testament emphasis is upon the participation “in something deeper,” particularly realities outside one’s existence as touching the Divine Presence, rather than just associating “with someone” as a social contact which is often the emphasis in contemporary notions of “secular fellowship.” In Paul’s writing we regularly see this idea of participation in spiritual realities, such as in the description of the Lord’s Supper to the Corinthians. Here, the Lord’s Supper signifies fellowship with Jesus Christ where the sharing of a common meal is a sharing in the body and blood of Christ. The Philippians are another instance of fellowship in terms of participation, but this time it is in reference to sharing in the fellowship of the life giving Holy Spirit (Phil 1:7). Both of these examples even more so, speak more about participation in the Divine Spirit rather than the fellowship created by the Holy Spirit. Sharing in the Spirit is the decisive factor in their life together. So to begin with Christ's Presence is vital and is fostered by the Divine or Holy Spirit which Christ said he would leave his dicsipleship community. With that in mind in history, the Christian Church has always had the means to carry out the task of reforming its structures and adapting them to the needs of various cultures but it is even more so in our modern (or post-modern) society. But it is in attending above all to those who suffer the consequences of the destructive effects of this society and modernity, that the Church must address as exhibited in the example of its founder Jesus. In the church there must need be enough resources to exercise a Ministry of Reception, Internal health, counseling, follow-up, etc. which we term as overall pastoral care. Churches should also explore economic stewardship opportunities, or they should be created to provide economic means and work to those who need it. Church community implies in reaqlity specific places (beside the time and place of worship as the pinnicle of sacred community) are also needed, whether in flats or in large houses, where they can organise different styles and modalities of community life of a family character. The most important thing is the people with vision, willing to respond to this call and ready to pay the personal and family price or sacrificial commitment to be able to carry out this goal of creating families, especially for those without family. The church must be like an extended family or an inclusive family that provides what is necessary for a harmonious growth of each family and also for those who have no family. The same dynamics of the life of the Church in its organization of programs and activities should put the emphasis on "the church as a family Koinonia", with social moments, meals, excursions, holidays and all kinds of encounters and coexistences that make possible a communion Intimate and mutual help of all with all or at least the most empowered with the neediest. According to Westerhoff we need a wider community to help us in times of need, to help us know God's will for our lives, to be forgiven and reconciled, so that we can grow in our relationship with God, with us With our neighbour and with the environment. This community of faith is not an idealistic dream, but the reality to which God is calling us. For our institutional churches to survive and respond to the needs of the people of our time have to be transformed into communities. The church needs to provide a quality of life and experience essentially different from life in society. " There are modalities of community churches of all kinds. There are some where everyone lives in a community together. Others carry out their communal life living nearby with regular meetings to eat and share a similar faith lifestyle commitment together. There are several methods of sharing resources. There are also churches that admit in their bosom community lifestyles of varying degrees of intensity. All these and other forms are valid in order to provide a familiar environment for those who need it. As we see in the Book of Acts after Pentecost, the early Church responded to the challenge of welcoming the thousands of new converts from far-flung countries into community-living homes. Among as they had need, each one contributed according to their possibilities and received according to their needs. Today, this is even more so, with the various challenges of our contemporary society (like the epidemic of lonliness), that the Church must be open to take new forms that can solve and foster the sense of family, that with this community experience, we become, even more a spiritual family of faith, life, health and hope. The first Christians gave us the example, because "... breaking bread in the houses, they ate together with joy and simplicity of heart" (Acts 2:42).
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I'm beginning (and it's long overdue) a blog on the vital need of rediscovering true Church as intentional Christian Community. I am actually looking for people to join me in the beautiful Gatineau Hills to begin what's called a small 'skete' community with homes for several couples, individuals and or families living in close proximity to share our spiritual lives in going deeper in the life of Christian discipleship. It's a form of lifestyle that still respects our personal space. Yet, we still need to explore authentic forms of community that are desperately needed today. This first blog will be a series looking at this theme that is integral to living the full Gospel life. I've excerpted an article here entitled:
Finding Joy in Intentional Community by Phil Davignon Recent years have witnessed a resurgence of interest in the idea of intentional community. I visited three intentional Christian communities to understand what motivated people to join and whether communal life helped them to live faithfully and joyfully. These communities vary greatly in terms of their size, location, and theology. The first is a non-denominational community of 100 adult members who live together on land purchased in the rural South. The second is situated within the Anabaptist tradition and includes about 50 adult members who live on several adjacent streets in the urban Midwest. Finally, I visited an ecumenical charismatic community in a mid-sized city in the Midwest which counted 400 adult members, a majority of whom are Catholic. The Turn Toward Intentional Community Many of the people I spoke with were initially drawn to intentional community because they were frustrated by the lack of depth and authenticity they experienced when their lived faith was centered in typical church congregations. One man described his former congregation’s vision of community as “something in the Bible we aspired to,” and “the kind of stuff that I used to talk about in church when I went to institutional churches, but it was always kind of an abstract concept.” It can be difficult to cultivate deep relationships when people only interact once or twice a week, and nametags, greeters, and potlucks can only do so much. One man I spoke with was the pastor of a Lutheran church but decided to join an intentional community because he sought deeper relationships. He claimed that many churchgoers “have just enough community to be inoculated from going deeper.” In previous generations, community may have developed more organically because people were less mobile, often living, working, and attending church in the same part of town for much of their life. But in today’s world people regularly have opportunities to upgrade their job, neighborhood, and church, and pursuing these opportunities severs the roots of deepening relationships. Little consideration is given to whether upward mobility should take precedence over any commitment to particular people and places. One couple lamented how their church small group, which had grown quite close, disintegrated as three of the four couples moved away over a two-year span. Some congregations may neglect to provide the social architecture where true community could develop because they imagine themselves as producers of religious experiences. Churches distinguish themselves through music, sermons, and programs, competing among each other within the marketplace of local congregations. When people’s preferences change, producers accommodate them by creating new religious products. This unintentionally perpetuates religious consumerism by enticing potential members who are attracted to their style of worship. Many Christians still long for authentic community within their local congregation, but this consumer mentality funnels people into ministries with others who share their individual preferences, which results in reduced denominational and congregational catholicity. Sunday morning is not just segregated by race, but also age, income, and preferred worship style. The role of consumer implies very little about how people should relate to fellow “shoppers.” Those who embody the role of producer have little regard for the long-term development of consumers, only that they consume here and now. Focus groups and church growth consultants may reveal what people want, but not what they truly need. Congregations must not conflate satisfaction with sanctification. People’s deepest longings are not for their preferences to be satisfied, but for wholeness. Even church-going Christians may lose sight of the importance of church if they merely imagine it as one more option in the marketplace for satisfaction, and churches may neglect the practice of true discipleship if they envision mere attendance and right belief as the pinnacle of the spiritual life. Commitment and Proximity Intentional Christian communities offer a lived approach to Christianity that stands in stark contrast to the consumeristic spirituality practiced by some congregations. Despite differences in theology, region, and structure, the three communities I visited based their communal life on two essential components. First, these communities fostered a sense of commitment by inviting members to make a covenant to the community and their fellow members. Even though these covenants are not binding, the relative permanence of the decision promotes a sense stability. Rather than restlessly seeking better opportunities professionally, spiritually, or relationally, the covenant signals that members have chosen to embrace the community as the context of their life’s journey toward God. Without this sense of commitment people will naturally avoid difficult relationships that would challenge them to grow spiritually. The second essential component of intentional community is relational proximity. Members of these intentional communities often choose to live together in the same home, on the same property, or in homes on the same street or neighborhood. This enables frequent social interaction, allowing deeper relationships to develop naturally over time. One man described his experience of life in community by saying, “We are in each other’s lives on a daily basis and . . . you can see into people’s lives; and it’s not an invasion because they are sharing a part of you.” Commitment, proximity, and stability comprise the soil where deep and enduring relationships take root, allowing members to give and receive in ways that are uncommon in the typical church congregation. As one man noted, “The closer we live, the more exposed our weaknesses are and the more annoying we can be to one another. The more we put in common, the more chances to disappoint one another. There’s a real cost to living close together.” These communities embrace the challenge of conflict and reconciliation, viewing the process as indispensable to the communal and Christian life. Fulfilling the Great Commandment to love God and neighbor requires letting go of selfishness, but people to turn toward Intentional Community. Commitment binds people on a deeper basis than similarity, and to better effect. One woman in her mid-twenties noted, “There are people in the community that I probably wouldn’t choose to be my friends necessarily, but I learned how to love them. I have learned how to really be honest in a loving way with people, how to confront conflicts rather than just running away from them.” Without commitment people might flee potential conflict, rather than embracing the process of reconciliation and growth. One woman described this process by saying, “There are challenges because we’re all people and we’re living together. All of us are flawed and there are daily annoyances, but I am learning, in the progressive tense, that those are the teaching tools that God is using to change me, to broaden me, and to teach me.” By promoting commitment and relational proximity, intentional communities allow the messiness of deep and enduring relationships to train people’s hearts in deeper love. Enduring Joy Modern ways of life assume the good life can only be found by improving life’s circumstances. Even though people today are surrounded by an abundance of choice, we often find ourselves becoming indecisive, envious, and ungrateful. Intentional community stands as a powerful rebuke to the modern pursuit of the good life: it is not by restlessly seeking to improve our circumstances, but by committing ourselves to a place and people, that joy becomes possible. The way intentional communities train people’s hearts in selfless love is reminiscent of another institutionalized form of committed relationship: marriage. Rather than promising happiness, marriage and intentional community provide a form of social architecture that offers the possibility (but not guarantee) of joy. Asking whether intentional community leads to joy is a similar question to asking whether marriage leads to joy. All communities and marriages will face various trials caused by selfishness, but this process must be embraced, not avoided, in order for these relationships to further our sanctification. Some will turn away from conflict and trials in bitterness, restlessly seeking new relationships and communities that seem closer to ideal, yet no such community or relationship exists. Intentional communities and marriages are pathways to wholeness and joy when we learn to imagine them as the training grounds of enduring love, rather than burdening them with consumer expectations. The process of purifying our love and becoming like Christ may not necessarily be enjoyable in itself, but it can be joyful as we hope that one day “we shall be like Him” (1 John 3:2 RSV). Committed relationships are both preparation and participation in this future reality, as we grow in communion with God and others. |