Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us
and helps us to get at the moral and theological commitments that structure our relationships. Practices are at the heart of human communities; they are things “people do together over time to address fundamental human needs.” Every community has practices that hold it together; for Christians, practices can also be understood as responses to the g
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Considering them as practices opens up the possibility of recognizing them as the relational dynamics of grace and truth — what grace and truth look like when they are embodied in community.
Christine D. Pohl • Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us
together. Jesus risked his reputation and the credibility of his story by tying them to how his followers live and care for one another in community (John 17:20-23).
Christine D. Pohl • Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us
Communities in which we grow and flourish, however, last over time and are built by people who are faithful to one another and committed to a shared purpose.
Christine D. Pohl • Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us
practices are most powerful when they are not noticed, when they are simply an expression of who we are and what we do, a way of being in the world and relating to one another that seems “natural.”
Christine D. Pohl • Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us
working with practices allows us to move beyond important but individually focused literature on spiritual formation so that we can also attend to the formation of good communities.
Christine D. Pohl • Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us
While we readily recognize the ways in which the larger culture challenges Christian beliefs and commitments, we don’t always notice how profoundly our expectations, desires, and practices are also shaped by our culture. We bring the values of self-actualization, individual success, consumption, and personal freedom — and the choices that result fr
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A framework that focuses on practices allows us to see issues in congregational and community life from a different angle
Christine D. Pohl • Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us
The winsome and life-giving character of Christian community is often accompanied by profound difficulties arising from disagreements and betrayals. Unless participants are prepared for the inevitable challenges, when difficulties develop, they will quickly become wary of moving toward deeper involvement in any church or community. The testimony of
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