Sections
thumbnail_image Many of us have experienced the deep goodness of community and the great damage it can incur. In this edition, face the complexities of life in community.
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ISSUE: Volume 30, Number 1, Spring 2018

Facing Community

Many of us have experienced the deep goodness of community and the great damage it can incur. Yet despite our painful experiences, many of us tend to try again.

In this edition, face the complexities of life in community. Read about L’Abri in Massachusetts and the push and pull of ethnic minority church communities in Vancouver. Follow the mind of a painter as he visually depicts René Girard’s social observations. Watch theologian Stanley Hauerwas reflect on healthy community in an exclusive clip. 
Micah Hill

Issue Contents

For more articles, check out our Leading IdeasProfileArts & TheologyThought to Action, and Field Notes sections.

Leading Ideas

Community of Foreigners

In the work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, David Robinson is challenged by the theologian’s conviction that “the church is not a community of people who are all the same but precisely one of people who are foreign to one another who are called by God’s Word.” more

Profile

From Church Parking Lot to Groundbreaking Housing Community

East Vancouver's new Co:Here Housing Community isn’t content just to provide affordable housing. It seeks to bring people from across socio-economic barriers into life together—and into mutual transformation. more

Profile

Learning to See Ourselves

What role do minority churches play within the wider church, and is multiculturalism their friend or foe? Richard Wu interviews two pastors and a cultural geographer to find out. more

Jeff's Journal

Why Is Authentic Christian Community So Elusive?

We long for community. Yet isolation and loneliness remain some of the church’s biggest problems. President Jeffrey Greenman reveals the three non-negotiable, bedrock qualities required for any authentic Christian community to thrive. more

Arts & Theology

Discipleship Deconstructed

Paintings often portray relationships with an astuteness that words stifle. Get inside the head of a painter who explores interpersonal relationship by visually depicting Rene Girard’s social observations. more

Field Notes

Marion Maxwell

For Marion Maxwell, community means devoting more time to prayer, taking advantage of singleness to be alone, and having people over for dinner—a lot. more

Field Notes

Ben Keyes and Nickaela Fiore-Keyes

Ben Keyes and Nickaela Fiore-Keyes endeavor to live well in two communities simultaneously—one with students coming and going, and an ongoing one with the other workers. more

Thought to Action

Two Essential Practices for Healthy Communities

“How we live together is the most persuasive sermon we’ll ever get to preach,” writes Christine Pohl. Here she discusses two vital practices for making that lived sermon land. more

Books & Media

Sources of the Christian Self

This collection compiled by Dr. James Houston explores lived Christian identity through the ages, from Old Testament to present day. more

Books & Media

Boundaries for Your Soul

Gathering the wisdom from Alison Cook and Kimberly Miller's twenty-five years of combined advanced education, biblical studies, and clinical practice, this book will set you on a journey to become the loving, authentic, joyful person you were created to be. more