Do you want to build healthier communities?

Last Sunday at church we talked a lot about community. And this has sparked a whole bunch of conversations. And these are not isolated conversations - everybody around me seems to be lamenting the loss of community and pining for the restoration of community.

In the midst of all of this, however, we have to grapple with all the forces that work against the development of healthy community. After all, whilst we all love the idea of community, it is also true, as French existentialist philosopher Jean Paul Sartre famously said, "Hell is other people".

Recently I heard a man at a public gathering tell the crowd that after nine years of "the barbarians in Canberra" we now had the opportunity to rebuild community under the new government.

I thought to myself, "If only it that were true!". Imagine if simply changing one external variable (albeit a significant one), could usher in an era of perfect community! This is obviously, and sadly, not the case. We need a deeper and more accurate assessment of the challenges to community at both an individual and a societal and structural level.

Here's a talk from church that does exactly this. I look at how the energy behind the sins which corrupt and destroy community can be redirected towards building community.

The material is from Christian Schwarz and Adam Johnstone of NCD International (find out more here).

If you would like to do on online test to help you determine your energy for community, email me here. I'd be delighted to connect with you once you have done this to help you process the results and work on an action plan to develop yourr capacity for community building.

God bless,
Mark