Community
Despite what some religious groups may have told us in the past, as postmodern people, we know that we can experience God while wrestling with our kids, walking alone on a beach or cozying up to a cracking fire with a good book and a glass of wine... At COTA, we affirm the presence of God in all of life and in all life giving activities. Yet at the same, time we affirm that gathering together in Christ, is core to being Christian. We arre created for community, both with God and with one another. The ancient Greek word ecclesia (often translated as 'church') literally means "those who gather together" in Jesus' name.
In the modern world there was this saying 'I think therefore I am,' yet what ancient societies have always known (and we are beginning to realize) is that the deeper and more human saying is 'I belong therefore I am.' As beings seeking our humanity in God, we come know who we truly are, and grow into the persons God intends us to be, within the context of an authentic, loving and God directed community.
Authentic community is a weird cultish thing, like being attached at the hip, or sipping grape koolaid. Instead, it is organic, networked, relational, and attached at the heart. It's about loving God above all things, caring each other as we care for ourselves, pooling resources, doing justice, loving mercy, and sharing the gift of who we are, within this thing called Life, together.
Our modern technologies sometimes fool us into believing that a real life can be had in 'point and click' isolation, but our guts tell us something different. We long to connect, to belong, to give and take, even to holler, fuss and disagree... things that only happen in the messy world of relationships and communities.
The community share is not something achieved by our own efforts, but is ours as a gift from God to explore and enjoy. We don't create community and we don't control community, instead we live in community and become communal as we are directed by the Holy Spirit... Into this kind of community, God invites all, and we welcome you, into "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit."