Organic Community: Creating a Place Where People Naturally Connect

by Joseph R. Myers

Community is a fundamental life search and one of the key aspects people look for in a congregation. But community can't be forced, controlled, or easily created. The problem, says Joseph R. Myers, is that churches are too focused on developing programs instead of concentrating on environments where community will spontaneously emerge.

Organic Community challenges key leaders to become environmentalists--people who create or shape environments. Outlining nine organizational tools for creating a healthy environment, Myers shows readers how to diagnose their current situation and implement patterns that will develop possibilities for healthy communities.

Genres: Church, Leadership, Ecclesiology, Sustainability, Nonfiction, Christian

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2007

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joseph Myers is the author behind this book and his previous bestseller: The Search to Belong: Rethinking Intimacy, Community, and Small Groups.

I was a little hestitant to get this book, not because his other book was bad (in fact, it was good)…but as I was flipping through it I found myself thinking….”his last book was good, but how does one begin to incorporate his insights and wisdom”. And while his latest book starts to answer that question it remains purposefully slim on “here is what you do.” Rather it makes you flip the questions over and over in your mind and in your context and begin to ask “what does what he is talking about look like in our situation” rather than taking examples that he may give and just apply them haphazardly.

The whole books turns on the idea of Master Planning (MP) versus Organic Order (OO). He then chapter by chapter shows how most churches operate under the concept of MP but find themselves not really doing much or accomplishing much by focusing on what their plans are for people’s lives. This really challenged my thinking. Is the church all about making people plug in to fit their (the church’s) agenda? And should the church perhaps be more about finding ways to incorporate itself into people’s lives? The concept was (and still is) hard to get my mind wrapped around, but I think the implications are huge.

MP promotes place or point thinking “we’re headed there!” by asking the question: “where are we going (headed)?” OO asks the question: “what are we hoping for?” is more substance oriented and filled with journey language that promotes flexibility.

To keep this review short(er) I will comment only on some of the 9 areas that he talks about in regards to organic community.

1. Patterns: Presecriptive vs. Descriptive. Many ways to use to connect to God and others. Small groups (however good or helpful they may be…are not the end all be all).

2. Participation - lots of time trying to get people to participate, little time figuring out how. Churches tend to want people to plug into what they are doing. We must, as a church, answer the real question of “why me?” that people ask, rather than the organizational focused question we assume people are asking of “what’s in it for me?”

3. Measurement - This is not a neutral tool. This was a mindblowing section for me. We measure what we perceive and tell others is important, or that will become important. People’s stories are a universal measurement of life.

4. Growth - Piecemeal vs. Incremental. Churches tend to choose incremental because there are bigger upfront “growth” reports. It is quicker and faster. Yet it can exhaust a lot, or most of our resources because we are just wanting one or two things done, right now, to get see and experience growth.

5. Power - MP: power through position. OO: sees people who take on roles during the life of a project. Project holds the power, not the position.

6. Cordination - MP: cordination through cooperation. OO is about collaboration. Organic community, he writes, “is not a product or end result, but rather it is a process.” It is a different kind of ‘intentional’. “We have some control over environments but not on actual community emerging.”

7. Partners - Edit-ability vs. Accountability. Perhaps to simplistic but grace vs. keeping track of wrongs.

8. Language - Language is living. Moving from noun-centric to verb-centric world. I would ask though, is there room for both?

9. Resources - OO celebrates possibilities not options. A spirit of scarcity but not be truth but a personal view of resources available. He states that the church promotes scarcity world view through trying to get people to buy into their (church) MP. Example - bulletins are filled with ministry stuff inside the walls of the church or members home. He asks a vaild question: What can the church do to assimilate into people’s lives?

This book is part of the new line of books from emersion. Which is the Emergent Village’s resource arm for leaders and the church. To be honest I ended up liking this book more than The Search to Belong. They both are good, ask great questions and make leaders delve a little deeper into our minds, hearts, and motives of why are we doing what we are doing. You may or may not agree with his conclusions - but he gets the conversation started. By the way, he isn’t some whack job saying whatever. He owns a consulting firm that helps churches, businesses, and other organizations promote and develop community.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

In his 2007 book, Organic Community, Joseph Myers talks about the dynamics of community and hits on something that has been bugging me for years. His main thesis is that we can’t manufacture community or force it to happen, but so much of what the institutional church does is exactly that. As he says, “When we tried sharing our insights with the congregations with whom we worked, however, we found that church growth practices were so entrenched that proposing a different process of thought was met with great opposition” (Myers 2007, Kindle Electronic Edition: Introduction, Location: 110-111). It is something I have been preaching it for a while (but ironically still find myself slipping back into it). Church growth strategies treat people as a means to an end, and that “end” in neither inspiring nor theologically sound (more butts in the seats). But also, and more to Myers’ point, we can’t plan for community and wonder why it doesn’t happen. Myers contrasts “master plan” thinking with “organic order.” Human relationships are organic – as he says – and the best ones come about naturally through shared experiences and interests. What the church often tries to do is the equivalent of two female friends getting together and bringing their husbands, and saying, “Go get to know each other, boys.” We do seem to intuitively know how community works (277), and yet when we get to church planning meetings we work as if age or relationship status are sufficient commonalities for people to want to relate to each other. We have “focused on the result, not on the becoming” (165). As Myers points out in the chapter on patterns, “Forcing connections among people is awkward and uncomfortable” (270). Using the work of Edward Hall, Myers argues that we have four spatial references: public, social, personal, and intimate (300). But we move through these “stages” carefully and slowly, and we have less and less people in each one. We need connections in all four, Myers argues, but many small group or accountability programs assume that Christian community is not happening unless we’ve entered the intimacy space. “In intimate space, we share our most closely held experiences, thoughts, and feelings…Healthy persons reveal that they have very few significant intimate belongings. Thus, it is not true that the more intimate connections you have, the healthier you are or will become” (321-323)

[Robby Eckard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like this book didn't say much of anything to be honest. The main message was "Master Plan bad, organic good" which the author drummed into our heads over and over again. That's the problem with writing a book about being organic; you can't really give any practical steps to achieving becoming organic, because to do so would not be organic. The book does give a series of 9 tools to doing this, but to me each one basically boils down to: "This thing you're doing, stop doing it." I do agree with the author that many organizations and churches today are slaves to a "Master Plan" and that more space needs to be allowed for the work of the Holy Spirit and the gifts and leanings of individuals and groups in the church. But I think a blog post would have sufficed for that. Overall didn't get too much out of it.

[Adam Metz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Been on my to read shelf for a few years and finally read through it. Some helpful discussions and nuances - a few times I found them especially enlightening and freeing from many traditionally programmatically driven styles. Much was self affirming to my own experience but nothing truly stood out overall. Helpful short guide especially for large churches and traditional churches.

[Bryan Reeder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn't what I was expecting. A book more about what not to do than what to do.

[Garland Vance · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book practically useless. It's a book filled with ideas about what community should look like and how to create an environment of community, but very little practical help (which the author admits in the beginning).
There are two major complaints that I have with the book:
1. The author sets up an unnecessary tension between organization leadership (vision, strategic plan, etc.) and organic order. Most of the tensions he creates are espoused by GOOD leadership practices. Good leadership material involves environments and accounts for the flourishing of both individuals and groups. I found this tension unnecessary.

2. The small number of examples and practical insights made me wonder if the author simply had a nice theory but little ability to carry it out. I found the chapter on language and community nearly mind-numbing... and I talk a lot about the creation of a common language as a major part of creating community.

I have been excited about reading this book for several months but found myself disappointed in it. This might account for the 1 star, but even on my most generous day, I would not give it more than 2.

[Kevin Beasley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for organizational leaders. Moving from a master plan to organic order is the key to freeing your organization to accomplish its full potential. Prescriptive vs Descriptive leadership... Representative vs. Individualized responsibility, Bottom line to Story measurement... Bankrupt vs. Sustainable growth patterns... Positional vs. Revolving power... Cooperative vs. Collaborative coordination... Accountable vs. edit-able alliances... noun-centric vs. verb-centric language... scarcity vs. abundancy in resources... programmed vs. environmental order... Moving from the former of these to the latter are the steps to sharing in organic community. Excellent book for all leaders!

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a challenge to really consider the approach to helping people build relationships which is really what "being" the church is largely about. Love the Lord our God with all our being and loving our neighbor as ourself. Without relational connections it is impossible to do either!

Joseph Myers is great because he says so much in so few words. A VERY quick read technically, but you will want to wrestle with the issues presented for a long time. The charts of comparison in the text are absolute gems for future reference.

[Resa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good...describes a lot of what is going on at Vox Dei. Funny to see myself in the pages as God is helping me shift from master planner to organic girl. My fav quote I read yesterday: "Organic community is not a product, not an end result. Organic community--belonging--is a process, a conversation, a jazz piece, an elegant dance. It is not the product of community that we are looking for. It is the process of belonging that we long for."

[Matt Glidden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for the second time--I have to keep reminding myself to move from heavy, top-down programming to natural, bottom-up community.
Organic order not master plan
descriptive not prescriptive
story not bottom line
collaboration not cooperation
environmentalist not programmer

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Says alot of stuff that you intuitively suspect, but don't have the wherewithal to implement. However, it also dismisses some effective ministries.
Is not a book built on biblical foundations (not that is is unbiblical). It is sociological observations, not theological statements.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good stuff about creating a space where community naturally happens. I love this quote " Organic order is open sourced, less concerned with holding on, more intent with going forward in the messy, relational, living verb of who we are."

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great follow up to "The Search to Belong." I would think this book essential for any church leader's bookshelf.

[Tim Beck · Rating 3 out of 5]

on page 128 of book. will come back to it later

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book! It'll make you think, and reconsider some of the foundational ideas we often hold about "community" and how to nurture it and help it grow.