When I say community and you say community, one would assume we’re talking about the same thing. One would usually be wrong. Let’s get down to brass tacks, shall we?

What Community Is Not

It’s not only a group of people who work together. A group of people who work together is a group of people who work together. You can work side by side with people for years and never become a community. Assuming that a group of people who work together is a community is the same as assuming that all acquaintances are friends.

The words “group” and “community” have become interchangeable today, but there is a world of difference. It is like the difference between house and home. They may look the same from the outside, but they are not the same on the inside,e and it’s the inside that counts:  It’s what happens within the building that makes a house a home, the spirit that dwells within. It is the same with our groups.

Every group can become a community, but not every group is a community. Propinquity alone does not a community make.

If we live in the same city or town, does that mean we are a community?  If we live in the same neighbourhood, are we automatically a community?  No and no!  A community is much richer and deeper than that.

What Community Is

A real community is a committed body of people who have evolved and grown together in their relationships to one another. It is an inclusive group of people without borders to keep others out, nor lines within to divide people. They have become a truly authentic group of people who are committed to the group, who identify with it, care about, celebrate, and support the people in it. A real community is a place of collaboration where the leadership is shared among the members. A community is a place of great camaraderie.

Why Should We Build Community?

• Don’t we want to live in a neighbourhood where people care about one another?
• Shouldn’t we work at a place where we are happy to show up every day, where the people there are happy to see us?
• Don’t we want to gather on the weekend with people who share our faith, but also know our children, our stories – and care about them?
• Why wouldn’t we want to work on a project with a group of people who can use consensus to make decisions and who collaborate authentically and effectively?
• Why shouldn’t we have places in our lives where we can be ourselves, where our uniqueness is recognized and celebrated by people whose uniqueness we also recognize and celebrate?

Why Wouldn’t We Build Community?

Never before has this statement been so true: The world needs community.

That’s why I wrote a book about it.

That’s why I build community with First Responders, whose work is so challenging.

It’s why I collaborate with any group seeking to come together with purpose—living, working, or playing in a cohesive, authentic way.

Are you a community builder?  Do you want to become one?

Photo Credit: MicroAssist