Ep 113: The Desperate Need for Deep Communities (GH)

What does a true spiritual formation community look like? In this Greenhouse episode, Brian, Handsome Kyle, and Doc continue the conversation from Episode 112, “The Desperate Need for Deep Communities.” That bonus episode asked whether many modern Christian institutions are structured to form people of depth, or whether deep discipleship requires smaller, more vulnerable, more intimate communities. Episode 113 presses into the practical questions. What do we mean by “deep”? What do we mean by “community”? How can we tell whether a group is actually forming people into the image of Jesus, rather than simply sharing information, attending events, or creating a religious social club? The conversation explores the Soil & Roots Greenhouse model, the five key elements of formation, the difference between knowledge and knowing, the need for vulnerability and trust, and the fruit that can emerge when a small group of people commits to being known over time. Brian, Handsome Kyle, and Doc also discuss why many people long for this kind of community but struggle to pursue it: church structures, fear of change, resistance to vulnerability, confusion about discipleship, and uncertainty about where to begin.

BY Brian Fisher

November 26, 2024

deep christian communities

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Ep 113: The Desperate Need for Deep Communities (GH)
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How to Build a Spiritual Formation Community

Doc, Handsome Kyle, and Brian reconnect in the Greenhouse to wrestle with our bedrock desire for deep, intentionally formative communities in a culture that often promotes the opposite. 

If many modern church institutions only help us with the first few stages of our discipleship, where do we go after that?

Perhaps the “Dones” are not so much guilty of a lack of church attendance as they are signaling a need to which the church should respond. 

As usual, Doc poses insightful and difficult questions and delights in watching Kyle and Brian struggle to provide helpful, articulate responses.  He invites us to explore genuine definitions of “deep” and “community,” and then presses into what the church should do if it agrees that we are not providing small, vulnerable groups in which we grow to become more like Jesus. 

This is a continuation of our conversation in Episode 112.

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