What is Community?

Later today I will be attending a Community Gathering in the village of Markfield.  It has been planned for people of all faiths or none as a united expression of sympathy in memory of all victims of terror, particularly in response to the recent Tunisian massacre.  Representatives of Markfield churches and the local Islamic Foundation will be amongst those in attendance.

As part of the proceedings I have been asked to speak on the question “What is community?”  The more I ponder that question, the more I realise that an apparently simple question is really rather profound!  “Community” is not as easy to define as one might think.  Yet we seem to know when we don’t have it!  How many times, for example, we hear people say as they look back to days gone by, “We have lost that sense of community which we used to have.”

Human beings are created for community.  We could think of John Donne’s oft quoted saying, “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”  We are made for connectedness.  In the Biblical book of Genesis, we read, “The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:8).

In searching for a definition of “community”, I found myself dissatisfied by what I found in various dictionaries.  I like the following definition suggested by one of my brothers-in-law:  "A group of people who look out for and support each other and rejoice in their diversity.”

In my talk I will also attempt to briefly address the question as to how we can seek to create community.  Perhaps my training as a preacher has led me to mention 4 points, all starting with the letter “C” (there could probably be many more, but I thought it best to stick to 4!)  I don’t have space here to develop the points.  I simply highlight them, together with appropriate quotations:

Commitment: “We must become bigger than we have been: more courageous, greater in spirit, larger in outlook.”  Haile Selassie.

Communication: “Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing.”  Rollo May.

Compassion: “Empathy is the starting point for creating a community and taking action. It's the impetus for creating change.”  Max Carver.

Choice: “This world of ours... must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.”  Dwight D. Eisenhower

I will finish with a quote from Jean Vanier: “Community is a sign that love is possible in a materialistic world where people so often either ignore or fight each other.”

I hope and pray that our Community Gathering will be one step in helping to build true community.  Perhaps a seed will be sown.