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Form Faith
How is Faith Nurtured
in Community?
In a time that many
have characterized as “the age of loneliness,” one of the
greatest gifts the church has to offer is the gift of
community, belonging and nurturing faith together, in
Jesus’ name. Even as the various voices in our culture
advocate for individualism, self-reliance, and
self-advancement, the voice of the church calls us to form
a community different from that found in the rest of
society.
Information may best be obtained from experts, but faith
formation is best achieved in community. Every congregation
is called to teach people how to talk, to act, how to see
the world in a Christian way. “Speaking the truth in love,
we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into
Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together.
. . promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in
love.” (Ephesians 4:15-16)
Belonging to the people of God has never been an individual
quest, however. In baptism, disciples are called to a life
together. Over and against the messages of our culture, the
church teaches that Christians live, grow, and serve in
faith and community. Discipleship is learned through
participation in a community. It is in our congregations,
our homes, at work, and on the playground that we discover
who and whose we are face to face and side by side with
others in work, love, and learning.
From the very beginning, Jesus’ disciples have been known
as those who live in relationship with one another by
“devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts
2:42). As Jesus’ disciples today, we continue that
tradition by gathering regularly with other disciples
around the story, the font, and the table. In our homes,
communities of faith are created for daily living and our
call to be everyday-disciples is illumined in relationships
with family, friends, and acquaintances.
Christian community does not spring up naturally from the
earth or exist for long without intentional prayer,
planning, and effort. As Luther reminds us, the Gospel can
only be heard and seen, touched and tasted as it takes form
in a believing, struggling, confessing, and forgiving body
of people. Christian education today requires
counter-cultural congregations, congregations that provide
the space, the time and the actions that nurture faith in
community and discipleship in everyday living.
Excerpt from Nurturing Faith
in Community, 2003-2004 Christian Education Planning Guide
©2003 Writers: Paul Lutz and Diane Munroe
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