• Sociological Community

  Contributed by Troy Borst on Mar 5, 2009 (message contributor)

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  Tags:  Church Body Of Christ

  Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

SOCIOLOGICAL COMMUNITY

I would like to begin this morning with the definition of the word community. A community is "a local grouping within which people carry out a full round of life activities."

A community includes:

(1) a grouping of people

(2) within a geographical area

(3) with a division of labor into specialized and interdependent functions

(4) with a common culture and a social system that organizes their activities

(5) whose members are conscious of their unity and of belonging to the community

(6) who can act collectively in an organized manner

For it to qualify, its members must be able to experience all or nearly all aspects of the culture within its boundaries. I submit to you this morning that our church is such a community. We meet those qualifications as set out by sociologists.

(All definitions from Horton, Paul. Sociology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1972. pgs 437-438)