In the COP book, we learn about the stages of community development. We are even presented with a picture chart of these five stages on page 69. We learn that communities form an informal social network from which the core group of the community is formed. These people generally take the initiative to ”pull it all together.” Even so, we learn that if enough common ground is covered between members of the communities then suddenly members feel connected..in my own mind, I like to think of this as momentum. The chapter goes on to report that the more passion people feel about those concerns, the more drive the community is likely to have.
I like how the text reads when it says, communities are not born in their final state, but go through a natural cycle of birth, growth, and death. I wondered what it might be like for a church or a congregation. I like this particular example because it illustrates what the author says communities go through: birth, growth and death. And, realistically, a congregation gives birth to a new community of practice. In other words, a congregation gives birth to an establishment: the church. Similarly, a church then experiences growth. In the beginning, select members of the congregation pull it all together so that there is an abundance of networking and momentum from which the greater number of the congregation can become connected. For purposes of a thought provoking question: Does a community of practice such as a church experience death due to the original select members of that church experiencing death?
In my opinion, the eventual death of select founding members of the congregation does not mean the same will be true of the church. In other words, the spirit formed through the connectivity of the congregation will keep alive the ever-changing community of practice, the church. In fact, page 75 points out the communities of practice such as a church can (1) focus of dimensions of the domain that are particularly important to the business, or in this case, church. This could be, for example, biblical scripture and interpretation. (2) Focus on aspects of the domain community members will be passionate about. An example of this could be shared values and beliefs. (3) Define the scope wide enough to bring in new people and new ideas, but narrow enough that most members will be interested in the topics of discussions. In this case, the example would be the connection between the pastor and the congregation.
