What is the point of community?

I'm still reading through "The Relational Way" and the key point that keeps coming up is that the focus of any community group meeting shouldn't be to develop relationships with one another, although that is a crucial part of a community group.  The focus should be on Jesus Christ and having Him at the centre of each get together.  That puts a community group in a whole new light, doesn't it?

Recognizing the value of community

I'm following up from my latest blog post regarding M Scott Boren and his book 'The Relational Way'.
We don't always choose community even if deep down that is what we really want. So, to get people involved in community groups, we need to show them the value of community. What are some ways we can do this?

Relational living in an isolated world

Is it even possible to live in relationship with more than just your core family these days? Even as someone who desires to live in community, I still struggle sometimes to make sure I create opportunities to experience community. I agree with M. Scott Boren who wrote in his book that the culture really tends toward isolation. That means that we have to try twice as hard to make sure we follow God's way of living in love and community, and we actually have to teach people how to do this. We can't expect them to live this way organically. Even if we are all meant for community, that doesn't mean we will easily tend toward that.

Sticky Church

I read Sticky Church by Larry Osborne a while ago and the idea of the sermon-based small group seemed good. I just recently finished reading this book again and the basic ideas of the book finally sunk in.
If community groups are going to be about community, why spend so much time dithering about curriculum and study topics? Stick with the sermon-based study, and you can spend a lot more time building relationships and supporting one another.
More on this another time.

'Community: Taking Your Small Group Off Life Support'

Okay, so I have finished reading Brad House's book 'Community'.  I would highly recommend that you read this book, if you're remotely interested in community groups.  House's book was extremely helpful in seeing what the scope of community groups could be.  We can take our groups beyond bible study; we can engage our members with real 'living together' experiences.  Community groups can offer individuals the opportunity to provide hospitality to friends and neighbours, great times of fellowship, bible learning, and support for life experiences.
I'm struggling to put my thoughts on this book into words.  Basically, you need to read it.

Getting involved in community

I'm still making my way through Brad House's book on community. It is so fascinating I'm learning a lot. One thing that I've been thinking about lately is the need to get community groups involved in service. We need to get out of our living rooms and go make a difference in the world. I'm asking myself, "How can I bring the love of Jesus to my community?" As I think about the possibilities, I know it'll involve some work, but surely it'll be worth it!
I don't know how long it'll take, but when I'll let you know what the results of this new initiative will be. Perhaps you can be thinking of how you can get involved as well.

True community

I'm reading a book by Brad House right now titled 'Community'. You should check it out. It has a lot of great insights about how to foster true community. Humour me while I provide you with a rather lengthy quote from his book.

"Since community is a blessing of God, a community group should be life giving to its members. Unfortunately, many of our experiences have been different. Community groups are often seen as obligatory and life taking. We secretly hope the kids will be sick so we can stay home. We know if we go, then Sally is going to dominate the conversation with the same issues that we've heard for the last three weeks, and insensitive Rob is going to miss the point and start lobbing verses at her. As this drags on, Jim is going to try to prove he is the smartest guy in the room by parsing a Greek verb and quoting dead Puritans. Then, just in time is running out, we will go through prayer requests for each other's aunts' cats that are suffering from angina. My only prayer will be that it ends soon so I can go get one marquises of banana bread and get home to my TV. This is not a picture of community. Yet many of us have settled for this experience because we don't know better or because we consider it a modern form of self-mortification." (p 98)

I'm not saying that that is particularly my experience, or yours, but it did resonate with me. In past times, I have felt that the interactions of a community group have felt forced and did not seem genuine. Brad has given me some great ideas for how to change that kind of situation.

Deluge of information

Well, it's been a few days.  The main thing that I have found out since my last post is that there is a considerable amount of information in the wide world about community groups.  People have discussed how to establish groups, ongoing operation, discussion content, the main reasons to start community groups, and more!  It seems that they all have different things to say about the world of community groups.
Personally, I'm still digesting what I've read.  To help you out, I'll point you in the direction of some of the resources I have found.  Once I come to some conclusions on the various materials I've reviewed, I'll post some further ideas.

A note on terminology

You'll find as you dig further into the world of community groups that the terminology changes. Some people talk about small groups, cell groups, cell church, care groups, or life groups. I'm going to be talking about community groups because fostering community is the goal of getting together in groups.

Welcome!

Welcome! You've just stumbled upon my blog about building community. That sounds kind of vague, doesn't it? To explain further, I'm interested in learning more about how Christians can foster community life within their neighbourhood circles and their church.

These days, it's easy to jump online and feel like you're connected to hundreds of people, whether it's through Twitter, Facebook, online gaming, or the numerous blogs that are now available on the internet. There is something to be said, however, about actually connecting with people face to face. Without going into details, I'll just let you do your own Google search to find out about the human need for real human interaction.

Since we all want to live in community, shouldn't it be easy to come together and experience it? Well, I'd have to say yes and no, and that's why I'm writing this blog. It will be a resource for me and you to find information and ideas on how to go out into the real, personal world and have meaningful and lasting interactions with others in the form of community groups.