What is Community?

One Defintion

community (ke-myÁ´nî-tę) noun plural communities Abbr. com. 1. a. A group of people living in the same locality and under the same government. b. The district or locality in which such a group lives. 2. A group of people having common interests: the scientific community; the international business community. 3. a. Similarity or identity: a community of interests. b. Sharing, participation, and fellowship. 4. Society as a whole; the public. 5. Ecology. a. A group of plants and animals living and interacting with one another in a specific region under relatively similar environmental conditions. b. The region occupied by a group of interacting organisms. Excerpted from The American HeritageŽ Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition Š 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from INSO Corporation; further reproduction and distribution in accordance with the Copyright Law of the United States. All rights reserved.

Offenders Need Healthy Communities in Which to Heal

Offenders need community. They need to have safe places, to grow and be nurtured in. Communities can be support & accountability groups. They can be within churches, or without. They can be places of education, where the offender picks up new skills. Community is to be a safe place, of interaction & growth. There lies part of the problem: Do communities provide this nurturanced & growth?

Larry Crabb, a professional Psychologist, writes: "Because we have become a nation of individuals-with problems, we have missed our destiny to be people-in- community. We go to impersonal churches where programs outnumber relationships, and we schedule appointments with personal experts who sell an hour of relationship per week. Our pastors remove themselves from their congregatios or are impotent in dealing with them. And our therapists believe that only in privacy of their offices can people be healed from the damaging effects of community." (Hope When Hour're Hurting, Harper, Collins, 1996, pg 183)

A very large part of Restored One's focus, is on communities that heal and nurture, instead of destroy. A good definition of community might be paraphrased:

"A body does not have only one member--it has many. If the foot were to say, Well, I am not the hand, so I am not part of the body--that does not mean it is not true! If the ear should say, I am not the eye, and, I have no part of the body, that would not be true either. Both the foot and the ear, belong to the body! For, if the whole body were an eye, how would the body hear, smell or taste? For this reason, the eye cannot say to the hand, Get lost! I don't need you! On the contrary, these so-called weaker members of the body, are very necessary. In fact, we go out of our way to make our ugly members attractive. The more beautiful members don't need it. God desires us to honor those members we don't find to be attractive. God gives more honor to members which are lacking-that there be no division in the body, but instead that the members should express equal care for one another." (Adapted from I Corinthians 12 - paraphrase mine)

Offenders tend to remain isolated. Much of it, is their own fault. Offenders need to stop being victims of society's wrath against them. There are many safe & appropriate communities for offenders to belong. The other side of the coin is, If Crabb is correct, than our communities, are truly impotent--Crabb speaks primarily to the Christian community. And, this is especially true, for the offender.

Church communities, of any kind, are usually the least safe place for sex offenders. (1) Because of all the children, who attend with their parents; (2) Church programs and ministries are usually tailor-made to fit the family. Sex offenders, have violated key relationships, which impact the family, and, they may be restricted in attending/participating in all, or some of this community. For those offenders, with strong religious ties, this severance from Christian community, can be very difficult, if not traumatic. (3) If a sex offender is welcomed into a church (those in leadership know of the offense), there may be a high level of discomfort--the pastor, minister, lay leader(s), may not know how to "plug" the offender into sub-communities, within the whole, that will have a meaningful impact in the growth of this person. The offender may choose to remain isolated--fearful that if he opens himself up to others, and his offending past is discovered, he will be rejected. Learning to take risks, in appropriate communities, is threatening-yet, a part of the growing experience.