Community

When you are not here, you are missed and we are less.

Faith and Light International Formation Project Team

2012

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What is Community?

Community is a unique way that humans have of coming together– Different from other types of groups or

organizationsA living reality

– Born in time, needs care and nourishment, grows– Can die

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A human need

– We all need a place of acceptance and belonging where we are known, cherished and encouraged to grow to our fullest through exercising our gifts for the good of others

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What makes Community?

We share common vision, values, vocation, vulnerability

– We are looking for the same things– We are inspired by the same principles and

ideals

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This humility and vulnerability are the hidden strengths of a community. These hold it together and allow it to come through difficult times with more life than before

– I know that I cannot do everything by myself and I can ask you to help me

– Whatever is built on pretense or falsity will not last

I am here as I truly am

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We share a common mission

– We find meaning and value in sharing what we have been given so that others might live, opening out beyond ourselves, bearing fruit in some concrete way

– A community that closes in on itself, becomes irrelevant to others and dies as a community, even though the group may continue to meet for years

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The Experience of Community

What does Community “feel like”?

– It is right and good to be here– It is good that you are here with us– It is good for me to be here, I have a valued

place here– It is good for us to be together– It is sometimes hard to be here, but I want to

be here

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What does Community require?An impetus to begin – a “spark” – a

connection

Commitment– Each one’s “Yes.” “I choose and commit to be

here with you.”

Meeting as persons– A regular pattern of coming together to be

with one another

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Fidelity, Honesty, Respect and Authenticity

– There is a core group of people who will be present over time

– We speak the truth reverently to one another

– We can be as we are with one another – with genuine concern for one another

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Gifts and Skills

– Generosity and good will are beginnings, but, by themselves, they are not enough to help all members to face difficulties and to grow

– Everyone’s gift is needed to fulfill the mission

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Structure and organization

– To fulfill our mission, true to our vocation and values, now and into the future, we need wisdom, a framework, guidance, coordination, and means for communication

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And every community requires work

– Community does not happen by accident. There needs to be planning, preparing, facilitating and evaluating

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Belonging, Inclusion and Acceptance

In community there is no “them” and “us”.

In community there is only “us”!

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We all share responsibility for the life, growth and mission of our community

– No one “controls” the community

– No one is exempt from service

– Those who have no responsibility or contribution to make feel less ownership and sense of belonging

We all have different roles of responsibility

To Grow into the Future

Attraction– “See how they love one another”

Invitation– “Come and see”

Engagement– Participation is meaningful and life-giving

Outreach– We are impelled to share. We believe that others

need what we have been given.

Without new members we will die

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What distinguishes a Christian Community

We identify that what brings us together is our common call from God

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God has created a bond (covenant) between us– Our lives, brought together by God, are

somehow interwoven into a network of relationships

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This is a gift/grace to be lived in the Spirit of Jesus

To bring about the Reign of God in some concrete way by becoming (incarnating, embodying) the Good News– A place of conversion / transformation for all

members

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Forgiveness

– We have been forgiven, so we are opened to forgive and forgive again

Celebration

– As followers of Jesus, we can celebrate everything - even death and our “defeats,” because God has the last word

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Faith and Light Community

A specific call to be discerned

– There are many organizations that promote good

– Not every group or community with persons with intellectual disabilities is Faith and Light or is called to be Faith and Light

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Trios / Triads

– A corporate, public witness to the value, place and contribution of persons with an intellectual disability at the “heart” of our community

– A network of supportive relationships for family members

– The presence of friends who have no “reason” to be here, yet have been invited and drawn into this “alternate world” of faithful friendship

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What we do

– Simple, “foolish” difficult to explain

“Being with” not “doing things for”

No accomplishments or “good works” to point to

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– We invest in relationships of friendship

– We create an atmosphere of welcome and acceptance that favors growth for all members

– We gather to share who we are, to pray and to celebrate in the midst of true joy and deep, irremediable suffering

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Mutuality and Reciprocity

– We have equal value. We all have gifts to contribute. We all have needs and we receive from each other.

– The energy that binds us and moves us is God’s love

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Part of a big, worldwide family

– We are one local expression of a much larger reality

– We live a solidarity of spirit, prayer, support, friendship, structure and resources

– Charter and Constitution, Statutes, Guidelines…

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Counter-cultural everywhere

– In a world of individualism, egoism, accomplishment, deceit, self-promotion and rivalry and that uses violence as a solution to problems; we offer a viable alternative

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Our Mission

– To witness to, to become, and to announce the Good News that God loves everyone equally - No Exceptions and to be living proof that it is possible for people with very great differences, seized by a broader vision, to be together in unity, harmony and peace through the grace of God