Thanks for your question, Jen—I'd love to hear others thoughts on this too: How are folks getting those in their church or broader community to gather despite everyone's busy schedules?

My hope with these programs is to provide the language to help communities understand the stakes, and some resources to gather around. I have found that having a more formalized program can be a helpful tool. It gives the group something to discuss, to provide structure to conversation, which can be less intimidating than a meal on its own (if that is not already a part of the community's rhythms). But there also has to be some buy-in from the community to help kickstart momentum.

Community costs us, it takes time and discomfort to commit to people. But in the end, what it provides is so worthwhile—hopefully the "cost" doesn't feel like a cost at all!