We all need to feel like we belong, right? It’s essential for our mental health, happiness, and productivity, especially as we navigate life after a global pandemic, church disaffiliations, and membership decline. One of the most critical ways churches can help their communities is by building a strong sense of spiritual community.

Belonging Matters

Being part of a community is more than having friends or sharing similar interests. It’s about actively participating in big and small groups that shape who you are. Whether singing with the choir at church, organizing a family reunion, or planning a work event, each group you belong to affirms your sense of belonging and boosts your self-esteem.

Harvard researchers found that close relationships are key to keeping people happy and healthy throughout their lives. Social connections with family, friends, and community can delay mental and physical decline. Meanwhile, neuroscientists at MIT have discovered that the same part of the brain registers cravings for human interaction and food. At the same time, the pain of being excluded and physical pain are also located in the same area. This suggests that belonging is just as essential as our favorite foods.

What Happens when Churches Build Spiritual Community?

Pastor Sharon Cochran, a participant in the Creating a Culture of Renewal^® community, knows how hard it can be to build spiritual community. Worship attendance decreased by around 50% over the pandemic. The church felt empty and sluggish. It felt like she had to do everything.

Then, Pastor Sharon began to incorporate principles of building spiritual community.

She started a newsletter, with a lot of information about activities, and gave people reasons to return to church. She also began a new evening Bible Study.

She invited others into leadership of worship, and let them know their voices were valued.

Worship used to be solely pastor-led. Now the laity, especially the youth, have actively jumped in to lead. Worship has more active engagement; in fact where people were reluctant to share their voices, prayer time has expanded in length and diversity.  It’s not uncommon to participate in the laying on of hands, or praying aloud with each other. Now worship attendance is back up 30%!

These things in and of themselves, are excellent.

But when you build spiritual community, engagement goes up in a number of ways.

In Pastor Sharon’s church, five new people have joined the Missions team. They are so engaged, that they have decided to meet more often. Their engagement is up 300%. There has been a 100-% increase in volunteers at the Client Choice Food Pantry. Even committees have seen a 5% uptick in participation as new people have gotten involved in being of service.

All this missional engagement has led to a financial turnaround. For the first time in a long time, giving is now outpacing expenses.

This church is alive, active, engaged!

And it all started with building spiritual community. In other words, Pastor Sharon created spaces that promote conversation and connection, heard people’s needs, and invited them all into a new way of being in community. Building a sense of community is vital.

The Principles of Building Spiritual Community

1) Include Time for Talking

I arrived early for worship one morning and headed straight for the front chancel area since it was my turn to serve as liturgist. I was invited to join the small choir leading the singing as soon as I arrived. While preparing for worship, Linda, Dana, Susan, and I chatted about Linda’s recent doctor’s appointment, Susan’s preparation for the children’s sermon, and Dana’s impeccable sense of timing. I’m not super close to these folks, but this kind of informal talk pulled us together as worship leaders and prepared us to enter into the spirit of worship by giving us a sense of belonging. Being social, even as informal as this was, can bean intentional part of what it means to be spiritual. For instance, I noticed that as worship unfolded very few people moved or had speaking parts in the service. Along with the preacher and the musician, the small choir and I were responsible for all the service’s active parts. There wasn’t even an official time to say hello to each other.

This dynamic could be changed by asking people to exchange a few words with someone sitting nearby—like introducing themselves, sharing something they are grateful for, noting where God was present the previous week or exchanging a prayer concern. Those online could post something in the chat to share with others participating virtually. Even small social interchanges can create a greater sense of community.

2) Include Food

Weaving the social and spiritual together can take place at a programmatic level by gathering folks around common interests and needs. Take cooking and eating, for example. Consider the meal Abram and Sarai made for the angelic visitors at the oaks of Mamre. Or the many times Jesus ate with others as occasions for fellowship and teaching. Resurrect the practice of building a social and spiritual community around food by intentionally hosting classes or experiences that encompass these themes. For instance, teaching people how to garden or cook could offer a store-to-plate or farm-to-table experience. As you first shop or garden, prepare, cook, and enjoy the food, you can interweave biblical themes like hospitality or care of the body into your discussions. Then invite the Risen Christ to join you at the table. Not only will community form around these experiences, but these experiences can lead to community-oriented projects or congregation-community partnerships.

3) Get Hands-On

People love to know they are making a difference in the world, that their actions are meaningful. Consider hosting missional activities allowing individuals to experience this connection directly, such as community workdays or projects like Habitat for Humanity or packing meals for the hungry. Think of creative ways to involve the children and young people. These experiences enable people to creatively collaborate in service of something larger than themselves and create a sense of community as they work towards a common goal.

Joining hands in service as a community can lead to incredible results. Just look at Sharon’s church, which experienced a surge in worship attendance by implementing this principle. By calling for unity and collective action (spiritual community in action), they saw a remarkable rise in volunteerism: a 100% uptick in volunteers at a local food pantry, a 150% increase in the ministry of Backpacks 4 Kids volunteers, and a staggering 600% increase in unchurched individuals seeking pastoral care. This is the power of mission meeting community: it transforms lives and creates a better world.

By designing gatherings that include the social, missional, and spiritual, you promote spiritual and emotional growth while building community between and among members. The bonus of creating a spiritual community is bolstering mental health. When you belong to groups, include time to talk, and share a meal, you help create a more robust church – one that is both social and spiritual. It’s not hard to do, and it may seem too simple to be true, but it makes a world of difference.

As we navigate the challenges of declining church attendance and the aftermath of a global pandemic, creating a sense of spiritual community is more important than ever. I’m excited to invite you to my upcoming workshop, “How Christian Ministries are Achieving Success: An Introduction to Creating a Culture of Renewal®,” where you’ll learn how to build a more vital, more vibrant ministry that serves your community and glorifies God.  Or reach out for a one-on-one conversation. We’d love to hear hear from you.

Adapted from “Forging a New Path: Moving the Church Forward in a Post-Pandemic World” (Market Square Publishers, 2022).

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