Erin Dunn

I am one of seven children – living in intimate proximity with people is not a difficult concept for me. But as I watch “community” unfold at the Commons, and experience it through the Commons, my understanding of it keeps shifting. It is shifting because the Commons – we get all in each other’s business in the most amazingly loving way. I have a unique perspective of community, being the leader of one of our several community groups. Watching the way that our small group lives life together has been the best mirror into “community” than anything I could have asked for.

Now, I am a 28 year old, single female. Leading a group of (mostly) married couples, (mostly) with children. Honestly, a year ago, there was no way that I would have believed I could have found actual community with this group. But over time, they have loved on me more than I ever expected, and they have spent time getting to know me – and they’ve done a far better job at extending community to me than I have to them.

Earlier this year, as our church studied through the New Testament and looked at The Kingdom, our community group spent a lot of time tearing apart the idea of living in concentric circles where Jesus was King. The more that we all learned what it meant for Jesus to be King in our lives – the more we realized that ultimately, we all really love the same things – each other! And the ways that we served our King best was in loving each other to death – and that has just started to happen naturally.

These people are becoming more than just the warm bodies that attend a bible study that I lead once a week. They are becoming my friends. They are sharing with me in life – they have taken a genuine interest in learning me. They look me in the eye and they ask me questions; they celebrate and grieve with me. I lead them each week, but they are the ones who give so much to me - in simply living life with me. There is not enough paper in the world for me to pen the ways these that are becoming “my people” have compelled my actions, behaviors, and opinions.

This is how I have experienced community at the Commons. I experience it every single time one of my people smiles knowingly at me, or prays with me, or laughs with me. And each one of those experiences are sculpting who I am – because with each experience my heart softens and grows and beats with the love of our King, not just for them, but for anyone that touches one of our kingdom circles.