How might you go about building and stimulating more genuine community in a local congregation?
Posted by tom | Aug 27, 2010Note: resonse to a final exam essay question for "Theology of the Church." You may note it's hurried pace and it's need for refinement. Please feel free to comment and make suggestions. It was written in 1 hour with attention given to drawing in references from the class readings. As I mentioned on Facebook here/there, I didn't have time to include Facebook, blogging, sharing herbs (herbal recipes), and being part of the local fair -- let alone the Christian Scholar Series ;-)
Why do many of us, even in the heart-land of Lancaster County Anabaptist hospitality, yearn for more genuine community in our local congregation? How do we criticize and energize our local congregations as we engage busy schedules which lack reference to our call to be the people of God?
When considering larger questions, it is important to remember who we are as the people of God, i.e., return to what we have come to know by relationship to God the Father, Son, and Spirit through the Word, Presence, and Body of Christ working out through history. In "Theology of the Church," Terry Brensinger drew attention to the three core characteristics of the people of God which extend through the whole Biblical story and receive full incarnation in the person of Christ, i.e., righteousness, compassion, and worship.
The local congregation is an assembly of the people of God in particular place dwells in, wrestles with, and embraces the larger story of the people of God. Below are some thoughts regarding the building of more genuine community through righteousness, compassion, and worship. (More)
A few weeks ago *CultureIsNotOptional's (*CINO) 
