In the editor’s note in my recent copy of the “Mars Hill Review“, Sarah Koops Vanderveen makes the following observation about current attempts at community,

“While people can’t be faulted for choosing to live where they like or for seeking out others whose interests mirror their own, the Christian faith calls us to a practice of community that goes beyond a cozy existence amongst others just like us. However, true to form, we tend to seek out other believers and churches on the basis of cultural affinity and comfort level – families with children go to churches where young families predominate; college students worship with their kind; and so on. In fact, in their well-intentioned attempts to make people feel welcome, churches may be doing believers a disservice by creating so many subcategories that members need only interact with those like themselves. In a sense, it’s individualism falsely advertised as “community.”