“You’re like a mirror, reflecting me
Takes one to know one,
So take it from me…”

–from “Dust to Dust” by The Civil Wars

We’re all increasingly familiar and inundated – in religious and secular contexts equally – with the vocabulary around community.  There’s Rod Dreher’s The Benedict Option, Bonhoeffer’s Life Together in Christ, every Wendell Berry book, etc., but the ideas presented in those works have been around for centuries.  The whole of human history tells the story of how vital being a part of a community was and still is. We need each other, “as iron sharpens iron” (Prov 27:17).  

I’ve quoted the Civil Wars song above because I think it distills one of the most difficult and grace-filled qualities of being in community: the fact that we reflect one another as co-image-bearers of God.  In that reality, we find the greatest hardships, the most difficult truths, and the most profound joys.  In community, we reflect one another, and as the mirrors for others, we are forced to take a hard look and really see things that we can’t see if we sit navel-gazing in our siloed worlds of hyper-specialization and fiercely guarded individuality.  Ultimately, if we are not living alongside one another in community, in Christ, we are not reflecting the communal nature of the Trinity, which is the very nature of Love.

You’ve been seeing it and maybe even participating in it for a while now, what we’re calling The Coracle Community.  But we also wanted to create a larger space, open to anyone, to explore the historical precedent and biblical foundations of Christian Community, and, perhaps most importantly, to have an extended time of enjoying one another’s company for a weekend! 

For nearly a decade, we have seen the rivulets of community start to run through Coracle at day retreats, within Fellowship classes, at evening gatherings over books and movies or other topics, and around lots and lots of tables.  We’re often gathering around a different topic, and in the end, it actually does help us build community even if we’re not solely focused on that.  This retreat is an opportune time to examine what Christian community is, what the Bible says about it, and explore its beauties and how we can strive for this eternal gift on this side of heaven.  It’s a trendy topic these days, making it all the more important to understand what God’s hope and guidance for community on earth looks like and how we can take part in stewarding that vision together. 

This retreat is open to anyone who is interested in exploring the Christian idea of community further and who wants to spend some more time with a really great group of people looking for more from their faith and desiring to walk alongside one another on that journey.  We’d love for you to join us for a weekend of exploration of (and in!) community.  Let me know if you have any questions or simply REGISTER HERE!