Fellowship is one of the pillars of a healthy church. The Bible repeatedly says Christians should live together as a tight-knit family and regularly practice the “one another.” But in our modern individualistic culture and post-COVID virtual world, many believers don’t have a genuine community. Too many Christians are not deeply connected to their church and think fellowship is nothing more than small talk before or after service. This is obviously not part of God’s design for the church. And in A Field Guide for Genuine Community: 25 Days & 101 Ways to Move from Facade to Family, Ben Connelly helps us recover real fellowship.
In this book, Connelly shows what a biblical community looks like, tells us why it is necessary, and instructs us how to build it in the local church. The book has five primary sections (weeks) which cover the basics of community. That is, why we should care about having a community, who our spiritual family is, what a spiritual family does, when and where a spiritual family interacts, and how to start.
Each section has five chapters (days). The daily readings explore a specific community principle and provide suggestions to practice what we have learned. The end of each week features a story from the global church and questions for discussion.
When I first read the description of this book, I felt like Connelly wrote it specifically for me. Though I was an active member at my last church, showed up every Sunday, took part in life groups, and served, I was not connected to anyone. Now that I recently joined a new church and genuinely want to connect with my new spiritual family, I couldn’t wait to read it.
The book provides excellent insights on fellowship and community. Connelly paints a beautiful picture of what a biblical church family should look like and uses real-life examples of such communities. I particularly enjoyed reading stories from churches worldwide and getting a glimpse of their family dynamics. I found the practical suggestions pretty good, though many of them only applied to families with kids.
Overall, I enjoyed A Field Guide for Genuine Community. I had never read a book on community and learned a lot of new things. I am looking forward to applying the principles I learned with the members of my new church. If you want genuine fellowship with other believers, I recommend reading this book. Though one can read it alone, it will be much better to read it with a small group.
*Moody Publishers graciously gave me a copy, and this is my honest review.*
