Thanks, Steve. It's tough, but for whatever purposes He had in mind for this situation, I'm trusting him to take us through it. It's become so incredibly clear to me through this just how important community is.

You might be interested in this post by Jon Zens on Frank Viola's blog. I think it tie into the ideas about church and community. http://frankviola.wordpress.com/2011/01/22/guest-...

Hey Steve.

Just tracking back over the last few days in my email, saw your blog post. This is something I've been thinking about for the past couple of weeks.

Mid-2010 we left our church of five years to move to another church nearby. It was a difficult choice, but we felt that it was the right time and timing. However, uprooting yourself from a community, even if it was the right thing to do, is painful. It's also tough to join a new community, where you don't really know anyone. You'd know that feeling all too well...

Over the past couple of months, as we've walked the difficult path leading up to our daughter's stillbirth last Monday, we've had the various communities that we're a part of pulling around us in different ways.

What was crystallized at the funeral on Saturday was the difference between the virtual and the real. There were so many folks on Twitter and Facebook who asked us "if there is anything we can do for you..."; the faces at the funeral were for the most part, the people who we know from "real" community.

I'm not complaining here - Saturday, for everything that it was, was almost perfect - but an observation of who actually made the trip to the memorial park, there was one person from my "virtual" community (and another couple who were mortified to discover they'd gotten the date wrong).

I think that "virtual" communities have their place - I wouldn't know about you and Jamie if it weren't for the internet - but I think that for the most part, the virtual community cannot create strong ties. I think that strong ties can only really develop in face-to-face relationships and "real" community, where you can't just unfollow someone who pisses you off :)

Oh, and kudos for the "Community" reference; I love that show.

Calvinism vs Arminianism >.<