Northeast Georgia Presbytery

Who We Are

We are a Presbytery consisting of 56 churches located in northeastern Georgia - a general geographic area defined by Augusta and South Carolina on the east, Milledgeville in the south, Winder on the west and Clayton and Blairsville to the north, near the North Carolina state line.

Ken's Corner: Along the Way

April 2012

Participation in the Certificate for Spiritual Direction and Faith Companioning Program of Spring Hill College has stimulated my thoughts in several directions, not the least of which is fresh reflection on the opening words of Northeast Georgia Presbytery’s vision statement “Building Community…”

One of the readings for this course led me to an article entitled “The Therapy of Family, Community, and Church” by Fr. Ron Rolheiser, who wrote: “In societies where there are strong communities, there is much less need for private therapy. People can more easily live with or work out their problems through and within the community.”

Rolheiser is not seeking to dismiss the role of therapy in appropriate situations. He is primarily talking about the value of well-grounded community that he says, “is therapeutic because it draws us outside of ourselves, gives us a steadying rhythm, helps us feel ordinary, and connects us to resources beyond our private helplessness.”

Immediately I, and others in my group, spoke to the crying needs for community in our mobile society where, by and large, the primary experience of extending family and/or neighborhood is fading if not disappearing. We also agreed that one of the oft-stated needs of people seeking a faith community today is a sense of belonging and community that, in some ways, was once associated with close family ties. However, we also agreed that the statement made by many churches that “we’re just one big, happy family here” is often more a fantasy than a reality, and we drew a clear distinction between a family and community.

This dialogue caused me to remember something I wrote in my doctoral project in 1980 that talked about “The Church as ‘Communitas.’ The Latinization of the word was used purposefully to create a way to consider the idea of community freshly, rather than the trite ways that we often have utilized. The word ‘communitas’ was not original with me; I borrowed it from a former professor of mine. But in my doctoral project, I defined the various elements of ‘communitas’ that are associated with faithfulness. My former professor had characterized it by the following:

1) Willingness to take risks (“take up your cross and follow me”),

2) Prophetic inquiry (the people of God together seeking to understand what is going on in this world and how to express their moral intent),

3) Openness to a different perspective and new information (promoting an environment for supporting persons in their differences - covenant community),

4) Forgiveness (a community of the forgiven and the forgiving), and

5) The creation of community that is not merely a means to an end, but of helping people share ‘fellowmanhood’ with one another (being superseding doing).

Last year the Synod Executive Forum met with Joe Small, former Director of the Theology and Worship Ministry Unit of the PCUSA. He sought to get us to look freshly at the concept of ‘koinonia,’ the Greek idea of community. In this conversation, he summarized it this way, saying ‘koinonia’ expresses:

1) The deep communion that believers have with the Triune God. (e.g., Apostolic benediction, I Co 1:4-9, cup of blessing in I Corinthians, and knowing Christ in the ‘koinonia’ of his suffering);

2) Communion of believers with God that takes place in a community of believers, (e.g., 1 John);

3) Communion within the community that is more than a vague expression of togetherness but which entails fidelity to the truth, (e.g., greet one another with a holy kiss, etc., don’t be mismatched with unbelievers, the right hand of fellowship, restore one in a spirit of fellowship);

4) Communion among different communions of different communities finds expression in sharing of resources, (Acts 2:37-37, Acts 4, and Jerusalem offering).

Darrell Guder in The Missional Church talks about the need for recovering of ecclesial practices from the early church. One of those ecclesial practices that he listed was hospitality, which he described as:

“Hospitality indicates the crossing of boundaries (ethnic, origin, economic condition, political orientation, gender status, social experience, educational background) by being open to and welcoming of the other. Without such communities of hospitality, the world will have no way of knowing that all God’s creation is meant to live in peace.”

Rolheiser’s closing comment states the potential of the church to provide this kind of community as he says:

“Regular Eucharist, regular prayer with others, regular church meetings, and regular duties and responsibilities within a community or family not only nurture the soul, they keep us sane and steady. Private therapy can sometimes be helpful in supplementing this, but church life, with its regular rhythms and demands, can help provide a steadiness that is not available on the therapist’s couch.”

The questions that I’m left with in this reflection are:

“Is this the kind of community that we are fostering in our churches, in our presbytery?”

“What can the presbytery do to encourage this kind of community?”

“Do we, personally, have a place where we experience this kind of community?”

I welcome your response.

Ken Meeks, Jr.

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