Defining Community

Community: A place of shared identity and purposeful interchange of ideas and understanding.

The above definition is my own. I attach to the understanding of community three key elements. First there is recognition. In communities, people identify one another. They know one another. They recognize personalities and unique qualities. They observe one another in vocational roles and in personal ways identify with one another.

Then there is interaction. People in community enjoy a rich interchange of ideas. They share with one another. They challenge one another. They provoke one another. They employ one another. They inspire one another. They think about one another. They care for one another. They believe in the value of one another.

They find understanding of one another in the context of their engagement. They may now agree, but they find ways of seeing and knowing and valuing the differences represented by other’s points of view. They move past the personal to the collective comprehension of the larger body of persons relating to one another. They value positive outcomes for all. They believe in the capacity of a cooperative spirit to move a group of people forward. They perceive the interests of all worth the challenge of engagement and healthy debate, with a willingness to appreciate and value the person who might extend a less-collectively approved minority opinion. Communities that inspire the best in all of us respect the worth of every individual and demonstrate above all the capacity to engage one another in openness and integrity of thought and consideration of each person’s unique gifts and abilities. Building such a community is not the work of those employing wood and brick and mortar. It is the willingness to share, to think, to listen, and to welcome one another to the conversation and to nurture and promote those places in which we can learn to know one another and appreciate one another.

In all the places we might consider as places for community, the church is clearly a place that deserves to be at the top of our list as a place to find it. At the same time, in order for the church to be the kind of community I have described, it must clearly be Christ-like in spirit and openness toward all.