Community was a hallmark of the Early Church. Acts 2 42-47 gives us a miniature portrait of the first believers:
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
As believers -- members of the Body of Christ -- we need each other. The Community of the Church is one of God's gifts to us, enabling us to share the diverse gifts and insights God has given, to proclaim the value of each member of God's family, and to come together in joys and sorrows.
The Early Church's model of local community, in which there is shared worship and study, but also some form of shared daily life and a meeting through the community of the tangible needs of its members, is far from the experience of many Christians today. One of our questions at CCOW is how we can best foster the growth of such community -- a joyful response to our common recognition of Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
But we also seek the answer to a wider question. For Paul, that "Community" was not only the Church in a local area, but the Body of Christ spread throughout the known world. In 1 Corinthians 12, the Apostle discusses the mutual obligations which characterise the Body in a local context: "there should be no division in the body, but . . . . its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it."
In 2 Corinthians 8, however, where he is discussing a collection for the Church in Jerusalem, he clarifies that the mutual responsibility extends more widely, noting: "Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little.'"
So as we seek to build up local forms of Community -- of life together-- through initiatives like Table Talk, we do so in the context of asking how we build up the sense of the wider community, the Body of Christ worldwide.
It is manifest that at present the Pauline standard "your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality" is not being met. We may not sense that as our fellow members of the Body suffer we do too . . . perhaps because we cannot see how deeply our acceptance of this situation disfigures our relationships with each other and with God. Can we build up our sense of the Body so that these wounds can be healed?
To read a meditation by the Archbishop of Canterbury touching on some of these themes, click here.
In this section, we'll post articles by and about people who are seeking to "live the Gospel in a global context" through different forms of community.
Daniel Rutland: Following the "Servants" Model in Southall
“We believe that Jesus is not just the one who calls us into mission, but also the one who models the way to do mission, through servanthood, service and incarnation.”
For more than 25 years, Servants to Asia's Urban Poor has been working with communities of the poorest people in Asia's mega-cities. Their mission is simple: “We are an international movement - a network of teams living in urban poor communities, primarily in Asia, participating with our neighbours to bring hope, justice and transformation through the presence and power of Christ.”
“Servants” has a way of working that differs from many groups. Team members form intentional Christian communities in the areas where they are based, living simply and allowing the nature of their work to flow from their calling to “meet our neighbours and those in need, and build genuine relationships with them, participating in their lives and their struggles.”
It's this way of “incarnational mission” – following Jesus “who became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood.” (John 1:14, “The Message” translation) – that appealed to Daniel Rutland, who is planning to join a new Servants team being established in Southall this October.
The Servants model first attracted Daniel when he heard about it at Greenbelt, a Christian festival. Drawn to explore the way Servants teams worked, Daniel travelled to Cambodia in 2006, where he was impressed by the way that they didn't go in “with lots of money and an agenda,” but
were guided by and sought to empower the people they lived alongside. Upon his return, Daniel joined together with other Servants “folk” for occasional days of sharing and encouragement. And when he heard the news of a proposed team in Southall, he felt “an inner leap of excitement which I couldn't deny or suppress.”
Since then, he's been preparing for the move to Southall via “reasonably regular visits, some great curries, lots of walking and talking, and a growing fascination with the extraordinary cultural and religious diversity of the place.” With other team members, he has been making contact with local churches and organisations with whom the team can partner. They've become aware of some of the local concerns – groups that are new and feel unassimilated, a sense of transience as most people who move in are hoping to go somewhere else, lack of local facilities and finances, and a sense of being marginalised by Government bodies and others. They've also begun to see some of the riches the area possesses, including the diversity Daniel has noted, as well as strong local community organisations, churches, and the presence of Christian conservation charity A Rocha. And they've begun to formulate principles, pathways of prayer, and ways of sharing their common Christian life.
Starting such a new venture often has its moments of anxiety: “Where will we live? Will anyone else come to join us? What are we going to do, exactly?” And, in addition, for Daniel, “I'm a gardener and a nature lover at heart, and I wonder how I'll cope in the big city.”
Reflecting on all these questions, Daniel mentions that the group has just reserved an allotment. “It feels quite symbolic – quite an overgrown bit of land . . . which looks quite nice but will take a lot of clearing. [It will need] a lot of patience and sticking at it, which may be the case for most of what we're going to do. We haven't got loads of clear agenda as such . . . [we're just] trying to sow seeds.”
And he recalls: “The Bible begins in a garden and ends in a city, as many have pointed out. But notice that the “river of the water of life” flows in the New Jerusalem “through the middle of the street of the city.” And beside it the tree of life, whose leaves are “for the healing of the nations.” I hope I'll get to do some gardening in Southall; but more than that my prayer is that together we'll be able to sow seeds of God's love and shalom. . . . What fruit will come of that is something we must leave in God's hands.”
To find out more about Servants, go to www.servantsasia.org.
"Table Talk" is an evolving idea, but the basic vision is this -- to establish a network of "Table Talk" groups where ten or twelve people come together on a regular basis to share a meal, pray and discuss issues that they are facing as they seek to follow Christ in a global context.
At the Table Talk meetings we've had thus far, the meals have been simple but the conversations have been deep and wide-ranging . . . and the sense of support has been a real blessing.
If you'd like to find out more, contact us at ccowinfo@fish.co.uk or 01865 378059.