- livingthedash.tv

The Ipiphanist (Show + Tell) blog by Nick Charalambous (@ipiphanist) is fast becoming one of my favorite blogs.

Nick, a former journalist, is now the Web Campus Pastor at Newspring Church. (read more here about how that happened)

Nick’s blog is full of…

thoughts

ideas

questions

challenges

conversations

about how the church can more effectively use technology and the internet.

His latest blog post on Christian community is one of the best I’ve read on the subject.

Here are a few quotes from the post…..

What is unique about Christianity is the church. The church, the body of God, the community of God, gives Christians the power to move beyond mere human “community,” and generally do things that are not in what a typical person would consider their best interests.

The goal of the church isn’t a community or a better community. It is being the church: the field hospital, kitchen and armory of always-continuing skirmishes on the battlelines of a war between good and evil.

Community, as with church, is not a destination. It is not an origin. It is a camp. A fort. A refuge.

And if we’re going to defeat the enemy’s strongholds where they are now – in the web, the living network – maybe we need to start building our “shining cities on a hill” there, just as we built our cathedrals in centuries gone by.

You can should read the rest of the post at Nick’s blog here.

I am a member of a very, very large church.  But it doesn’t feel like it.

Large, growing, healthy churches are successful at growing smaller while growing larger.

- Strong friendships are developed as small groups of members gather in homes regularly for study and fellowship.

- Connections are made as small groups of members do ministry together.

- Members gather to grow in areas like personal finance, marriage, parenting, recovery, and Bible study and break into smaller groups.

- Members gather in common areas at church like cafes, bookstores, and outdoor spaces and they get to know each other in smaller groups.

I also work at a very, very large company.  And I can’t help but think about how this growing smaller while growing larger principle from large churches could be applied at large companies.

- Collaboration works better within smaller groups of employees.

- Communication is easier within smaller groups of employees.

- Speed, agility, flexibility, adaptability are available within smaller groups of employees.

- Strong working relationships are developed easier within smaller groups of employees.

I wonder if companies that want to grow larger need to first think about growing smaller.

Yesterday, Pete Wilson asked this question on his blog, withoutwax.tv -

How important do you think community is to the church today?

I left this comment -

so important

i’m thinking that…..

a fully connected church community that is fully connected to other fully connected church communities can actually change the world

chatting with friends before and after church once a week partially connects us

serving together regularly in ministry connects us more

studying, praying, and sharing with close friends in a small group setting a few times each month connects us even more

but I’m thinking that technology is going to have to play a significant role in making us a fully connected community

what would a fully connected church community look like?