But the story of Jesus retains the power to capture the imagination and change minds and hearts. It may be that the teaching, relationships, values, and character of the Jesus of the Gospels form the crucial points of contact with contemporary culture. This story is the story of community. The Trinity, God in community, reaches out in creation and in redemption to form a human community to participate in the divine community. Missionary congregations invite people not just to make individual faith commitments, but to become participants in communities of faith.
Church planting is about establishing new communities of faith.
In a postmodern context churches will need to give careful attention to this issue of community. There is much about this context which tends towards fragmentation, disharmony, independence, and multiple superficial relationships. On the other hand, there has also been a proliferation of small groups and networks, evidence of the unchanging human need for community. David C. Norrington surveys the history of monologue sermons and identifies them as a creation of Christendom.