The Growing Disconnection of Community and Geography

8:30 AM Unknown 1 Comments


I have a hunch that most people who seek a church home are really looking for a community of people. Theology is important, sense of awe in worship is probably significant as well, but I would wager that feeling accepted and a part of a group of people is paramount.  And so we wander around until we find a place where we are embraced for who we are.  My friend Juan shared this about his journey to find a faith community: “One church I visited, I really felt welcomed, but not accepted.”  He found his faith community a few miles farther away. Today, community is no longer defined by geography.

At some point in history, we made a shift in our expectations of religious communities. The term many people use to describe Episcopal churches is as a parish.  We have come to understand parish as the people who attend a church, the community of the faithful. However, that was not always the case. Some of the roots of the word "parish" include the Middle English word "parisshe," the Anglo-French word "paroche" or "parosse," or what I find most significant, the Greek for "para" or “near” and "oikos" or “house.”  Near or alongside the house gives the impression that the parish was more than just the church, but included the area around the church. Community and geography were intertwined. This was the view the English took. 

And in England, this meaning still holds true today. A parish is not just a worshiping community but instead the subdivision of a county together with an ecclesiastical parish which then constitutes a unit of government. Simply, a church has responsibility for an entire geographical area. The needs of the community surrounding the church are also the church’s business.  This is why in England, if a neighbor wants to be buried, married or baptized in a church, it doesn’t matter if they are a worshiping member or not. What matters is their home address. 

I wonder when the shift happened, when churches began to view membership as participation.  I suspect that technology and globalization haven’t helped.  People drive across cities these days, passing several churches of their own denomination to attend a place where they either feel accepted, or where their theological, moral, or political views are affirmed.  Feeling accepted into a community and finding a place where one can authentically be oneself is of tremendous value. However, I am left wondering if the increase in societal mobility has caused us to lose this old understanding of parish.  And has that loss come at a cost to our faith? 

The English idea of parish gives me great hope, incredible possibility as we consider what a renewed faith might look like.  Maybe renewal is taking a few steps back. If we make the assumption that our next door neighbors are members of another faith community, does this cause us to spiritually disconnect our lives from neighbors? But if we view the neighborhoods where our churches are physically located as a part of our parish and the responsibility of the entire church community, we might be able to change the way we relate to each other.

Living in the Bible Belt means there is a church on nearly every corner.  Even today, there are still more churches than Walgreens and Rite Aids. (Although I wonder for how long?) Can you imagine a world where the physical, social, ecological, economic, and spirituals needs of every neighborhood became the concern of the churches in that neighborhood?  Something tells me we would get a greater glimpse of the kingdom of heaven. Maybe the key is in our understanding of language, and finding ways of reverting back to the original understanding of what it means to be a parish.  We are told that the two most important commandments are “love of God” and “love of neighbor.”  We spend a lot of time debating the nature of God.  Maybe we should spend some time rethinking how to love our neighbor.



1 comment:

  1. My ancestry is English and my maiden name is Parish. Wouldn't it be interesting to explore how my ancestors lived and worshipped? Very interesting blog for me to read, John! You always hit home for me....

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