Thursday, October 15, 2009

Building Community

Building Community

Community is created in two major ways, naturally and intentionally. But my question is "How do you intentionally create community that seems natural?" Word of Peace is a place where community abounds. We share so many things in common, the greatest of which is Jesus Christ. But when it comes to High School, it seems like the communities outside of church are talked about more than the one they are currently a part of in church.

This is where my conundrum begins: Youth form groups of friends, let's call them "clusters" that are filled with people who have the same interests, likes, dislikes and activities. These clusters are generally around 8 people and they form in places where they spend the most time. In this case it is school. So by my reasoning, church is not a place where community is easily formed. But I view this as a challenge, not a hinderance.

Our theme for the fall this year is "From the Inside Out", and it is our goal to take the love of Jesus, which is inside of us all, and show it to others through our actions, decisions, and lifestyle. This is diffucult alone, but in a community, where we support one another, it becomes easier and more exciting.

I encourage you and your students to be a part of Word of Peace and all the programming it has to offer this fall and into the winter. I encourage you to look beyond your 5 or 6 best friends and reach out to those in other communities and build relationships with them as well. I encourage youth to get to know one another, not only in own their grade or school, but with everyone that walks through the doors of Word of Peace.

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