Please exercise extra care about crumbs, counters, and leftovers. Margi Griffiths, Sally Marquette, or another member of the Social Committee will gladly answer any questions. Understanding community is central to understanding church adapted from Celebration by the Reverend Elden Smith Contemporary culture tends to hold a too loose view of community. Rather than seeing community as a close, supportive, and binding relationship, American culture tends to cheapen its concept of community. We often view it as nothing more than a loose confederation of neighborhoods.
Christian community is a much stronger experience.
Rooted in the resurrection of Jesus, Christian community extends to individuals through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. Walter Brueggemann, Charles Cousar, Beverly Gaventa, and James Newsome also affirm the importance of the community as an odd and crucial presence in a culture of competition, conflict, isolation, and brutality. Mead lists several characteristics of the church community that are necessary for a healthy and wholesome public life. His list includes the following ideas. The church is a place where befriending strangers is not only appropriate, it is expected.