This is community.

This is community. While I love the one-off, occasional friends with whom I get together, humans also have a need for ongoing, sustained, consistent community. 

So I’ve been building it through weekly cookouts and picnics. It ebbs and flows a bit, but I love that it’s not about me at the center, but the web of relationships building within the group. 

It’s about being intentional and joyful and supportive and reflective. It’s about sharing an awkward story and someone else saying, “Yeah, me too.” And then following up the next week on that story. 

Community is also woven into my coaching. Not only do I offer small group coaching, but I talk a lot with leaders about how to build a sense of community among their people. 

I just talked with a volunteer confirmation leader about what type of community the church offers that the youth can’t find at school or in sports, and strategized about how to build it. Yesterday, I talked with someone who is launching a church-adjacent business about how to start building a community around the business. 

Community is also an antidote to burnout. When leaders of churches, schools, non-profits, and small businesses come to me because they are overwhelmed or burned out, one of our strategies is to build community. 

Whether you are feeling overwhelmed or super motivated about what’s next, community can be part of the answer. Let’s talk more about it.