This morning I attended the first Crossfit Hydraulic class at my church. It was great. I started thinking about that and the community feel that I get from doing Crossfit. As leaders we need to be developing a culture built on community. Here a few reasons why:

1.) Place to belong – By building a community in your ministry you are giving people a place to belong. We long, as humans, for that. To have a place to be ourselves, to go to and be accepted. A safe place to be surrounded by people who care about you.

2.) Challenge – like Crossfit Hydraulic, community helps us to challenge one another. We can push one another further than we could on our own. We see the work of other people are can challenge ourselves to join them in their mission and challenge ourselves to go further in our own.

3.) Encouragement – Community also gives us the chance to encourage one another. Some days we just need a friendly face to inspire us to more. To help pick us up out of the mud and the mire and push us a little bit further.

How are you creating community in your ministries? I hope it is a safe place for people to come and find encouragement. A place for people to belong and to be challenged by one another to do more. A community of people laughing with one another and enjoying life together.