Fellowship & Community

by Rocky Glenn

Two of the most common questions asked when others learn you’ve made the conscious decision to live the Christian life outside the walls and confines of a traditional church building are “Who do you fellowship with?” or “Where do you find community?” The problem is the questions themselves are indicative of how conditioned we’ve become in the institutional church to speaking our own language and see the world through the lenses of our stained glass windows. The two terms are rarely heard outside the context of church. For example, have you ever invited a coworker to dinner or for a drink by asking them if they wanted to fellowship? When you’re sitting in the stands at the high school football game do you often lean over to the guy sitting next to you and explain how happy you are the two of you can experience community together? While each of these examples, by definition, constitute the term used, we don’t speak in such a manner on a normal basis and to do so would actually be quite silly. To fellowship with another is to have a friendly association over shared interests. Community is defined as a group of people having a particular characteristic in common.

Recently Jim Gordon and I had the opportunity to speak with Mike Adams on The UnSunday Show to discuss our journeys outside the traditional church and exactly how community looks now. For the three of us simply recording the podcast together was an example of both fellowship and community. This post is simply a small introduction to our conversation and to share the opportunity for that conversation to be heard.

I hope you enjoy!

Leaving Religion, Finding Ekklesia: A Conversation with Rocky Glenn and Jim Gordon