This issue of Conversations Journal kicked off the journal’s thirteenth year of publishing. Many topics and themes of Christian spiritual formation were covered over the years, but the topic of Community is one that stands out. The call to love our neighbor, to act as the “Body of Christ” to one another, and to be formed in the image and likeness of God (which is itself a community of three) are themes that are of most importance to Christians throughout the ages. In a world made more connected by technology, it is still easy to feel divided and lose sight of compassion for those around us.
As Tara Owens says in the opening pages,
To say yes to this with-God life is to say yes to life with our whole human family as well. . . . And it’s something that takes deep courage from us—whether we’ve been hurt by community in the past or not. It takes courage to show up, to trust this is God’s intention for redemption in this world, and to pursue connectedness when isolation would seem easier. . . . We want to encourage God’s people—ourselves included—to have courage to connect.
The articles on this topic are wonderfully challenging and can shift our understanding of community. Jan Johnson, a longtime friend of the journal and spiritual director wrote a beautiful piece, “Contagious,” that invites us to consider the things that make community truly transformational. We included an excerpt from Ruth Haley Barton’s book, Life Together in Christ, on the topic of discernment in community. Jeff Crosby’s reflections on how serving shaped his view of God and connection with community is a helpful and challenging reminder.
The article by David Robinson has practical suggestions, like a nature walk, on how to engage our family in regular rhythms of connection with God and each other. Cynthia Bezek gave us a brilliant and creative “interview” with Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I’m not sure Conversations had ever published a posthumous discussion like that before, but I’m so glad we did! You’ll also want to set aside time to sit with the cover art reflection on DaVinci’s, The Last Supper, by Marilyn McEntyre. There is much beauty in the art, and her words guide us to experience it anew. Even though Keith Matthews’s essay was written ten years ago, the epidemic of loneliness and the call to rethink incarnational community is still relevant today.
All of the issues of Conversations Journal have a permanent home here at Conversatio, with a companion course that allows readers to take the topic a bit deeper, and journey into a personal experience with the theme. For the topic of Community, we’ve selected Mark Scandrette’s piece “Becoming the Beloved Community.” You can visit the classroom [link here] for more information.
In his interview, “The ‘Strange Practices’ of the Practice,” for this issue, Aaron Niequist sums up why practicing the spiritual disciplines in community are so important:
Practicing in community is absolutely crucial. None of us can live the Christian life alone. We need the encouragement of each other—to not give up. We need the example of each other—to realize there are so many different ways of walking with Christ. We need the challenge of each other—to live up into the full life we’ve been invited into. We need the strength of each other—to carry us when we fall. And we need the tangible presence of each other—to incarnate Jesus’ teachings when words are not enough.