Connecting People in an Age of Loneliness
As a child growing up in the church, I was often taught that hell was a place of fire, brimstone and chaos. It was violent and scary. As an adult, I’ve become a big fan of C.S. Lewis and particularly his book, The Great Divorce. In contrast to my childhood imaginations, the picture of hell that Lewis paints in this book is strikingly different. Through his fictional depiction, he presents hell as a place of disembodiment, isolation, retreat and disconnection from God and from other people. If we believe that God designed us to live in community, then a scenario of isolation and disconnection would make for a likely prescription for hell.
Our culture of disconnection
This ethos of disconnection and retreat is one that our culture is constantly calling us to embrace. Phrases like “you do you” work to affirm our selves as isolated entities, pursuing self gratification with little regard for or dependence on community connections. Technological advances have contributed to our belief that all can be had without the need for others. In a way this leads to a disembodied experience of our world as we navigate life mediated through digital technologies rather than with people.
For instance, we can now buy gas, groceries and takeout without interacting with a single human being. Entertainment is increasingly less social – it’s now more common to curl up with Netflix than to watch movies with friends. And even if we do show up in person, the ubiquitous presence of smartphones makes one wonder if anyone is actually there with them.
This constant mediation of the world seems to suggest that we can live in a world without really inhabiting it. Our senses, hearts and mind are not fully engaged. We are here, but only sort of. And, in a way, that’s a kind of disembodiment. However, despite the individual empowerment touted by technology, we know something is not quite right because we are lonely.
In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General released a report entitled, Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation. The statistics documented in the report make evident that we are not flourishing as people. The report states:
Nearly 50% of American adults report being lonely.
Only 39% of Americans feel socially connected.
Only 30% of Americans believe they can reliably trust other Americans.
Only 16% of Americans report feeling very attached to their local community.
Only 47% of Americans belong to a local church, synagogue, or mosque.
The Placemaking Opportunity
This plaguing loneliness presents a remarkable opportunity for churches to step into a growing need: to reclaim the power of presence, of true and full embodiment that the Gospel calls us to pursue as people made for community. Henri Nouwen writes:
“In our world full of strangers, estranged from their own past, culture, and country, from their neighbors, friends and family, from their deepest self and their God, we witness a painful search for a hospitable place where life can be lived without fear and where community can be found.”
Through placemaking churches can create hospitable places for people to cultivate connection, to push back against the atomizing effect of technology and rediscover what it means to be present with other people.
In doing so, churches demonstrate a commitment to the whole person that echoes Christ’s ministry. Christ came as a human being and ministered to people in real life, in public places. Ministry is not just about hearts and minds; it’s also about creating physical places to demonstrate hospitality and foster the community connections that enable us to thrive as God designed.
Through placemaking, your church can demonstrate the message that tangible, physical presence matters. Placemaking is a way of working against the atomization of our culture and inviting people to be together. Placemaking is a visual reminder that true flourishing happens in community and in association with other people, not alone.
Curious about how you can use placemaking to improve connection in your neighborhood?
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