Our vision
The true meaning of community is mostly lost, due to the fact that the lack of community is the norm in our society. The word community is applied to, almost any collection of individuals - a town, a neighbourhood, a church, a business, a family - regardless of how poorly those individuals communicate with each other. Since communication is the bedrock of all human relationships, it is a false use of the word.
 |
The overall purpose of human communication is, or
should be, reconciliation. It should ultimately serve to lower or remove
the walls and barriers of misunderstanding that unduly separate us
human beings, one from another. Its purpose then is to create and
maintain love and harmony. It is peacemaking.
The rules, or principles, of community-making are the principles of authentic, effective communication. These principles have profound application to any situation in which two or more people are gathered together. Peace-making and reconciliation - community-making - is not just a global matter; it is a matter of concern within any family, any neighbourhood, any business, any church. Community then, may
be defined as a group of two or more people who, regardless of the
diversity of their backgrounds, have been able to accept and transcend
their differences, enabling them to communicate openly and effectively
and to work together towards common goals |
Any group of people can experience community provided they understand the demands and responsibilities involved and are willing to commit themselves to the process.
The process can be learned, but not from a book, or a lecture. It must be experienced. It is virtually impossible to describe community meaningfully to someone who has never experienced it - and most of us have never had an experience of true community.