Of course, we always want to shoot for camaraderie, “family-ness,” friendships, koinonia, or however you’d like to define ideal college ministry community.
But I’ve noticed – a lot, actually – that the price of outstanding college ministry community may be greater and greater difficulty in helping outsiders feel truly welcome.
It’s a conundrum.
- Do I try to keep community “in check” so we don’t reach that point?
- Once we’re at that point, do I count my blessings and stick with nurturing the community that is happening?
- Do I realign the group to be mostly an “outward-facing” group? (Is that possible?)
- Is it possible to be both super-welcoming and super-communified?
- Is this a theological issue or just a sociological issue? Or both?