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Communitas is the kind of community that is formed - forged together - when a group of people serve one another around a shared purpose marked by risk and vulnerability. It is not a comfort‑based community, but a mission‑shaped community. Author Alan Hirsch, in The Forgotten Ways, describes communitas as the deep bond that emerges when people step outside of the familiar and into shared challenge. My working translation… Something sacred happens when we choose to depend on one another while trusting God together for a purpose.
As our Mexico Justice Journey team has been engaging in daily spiritual formation times with Spiritual Director Petra Anderson, we’ve found ourselves living into this reality of communitas. Mix together semi‑grueling hikes, laughter‑filled rounds of Disc Golf, a communal appreciation for truly excellent tacos, vulnerable sharing with the Ranch staff during morning devos (la palabra), and pushing ourselves to do the hard, honest work of Rancho el Camino (y la chamba). What emerges is more than community – it's communitas. The Ranch rhythm is centred in the way (camino) of the cross (cruz).
Communitas isn’t accidental, **and it doesn’t happen by proximity alone; it is birthed through shared practices, mutual submission, and a willingness to be seen as we really are. Each day, our team showed up - not perfect or polished, but available. And in that availability, God knit us together.
**What struck us is how countercultural this felt - especially when we think about Vancouver, a city rich in diversity, opportunity, and beauty, yet deeply longing for connection. Vancouver is filled with people surrounded by others, but rarely known. Productivity, autonomy, and busyness often replace shared life. Yet in Mexico, through simplicity, shared work, and prayer, we tasted something different.
Our team experienced a glimpse of God’s Kingdom breaking in. A Kingdom where all are included, gifts are shared freely, and service flows from humility. It left us asking a hopeful and challenging question: What might communitas look like in Vancouver? Perhaps it looks like risking inconvenience for shared rhythms of prayer and service. Perhaps it looks like choosing depth over efficiency, presence over perfection, and vulnerability over self‑protection.
This echoes the early church in Acts, **who found themselves forged together through shared practices and devotion - a way of life we are still invited to learn from.
**Our challenge and opportunity is to carry this way of life home, trusting that God longs to form the same kind of deep, transformative community right where we live.
_The believers were together __and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. _Acts 2:44-47
