What is Koinonia

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I was in college when a priest I knew started experimenting with this new technology called electronic mail in his ministry. He worked at Christ Church Cathedral, Houston, and he started sending out what he called the "Digital Cathedral" email with a sermon and church announcements. It was cutting edge stuff. 

I knew Fr. Paul from youth retreats I attended and he was a hip, creative priest. It was not surprising that he adopted email as a ministry resource so early. Through that email I felt connected to him and other friends I knew through our Episcopal youth community, even though I lived away from them. It was in one of those emails that I learned one of my first Greek words: Koinonia. 



Koinonia was what Fr. Paul called his High School youth group. They would get together and watch 90210 together (that was a popular television show, from the days when one had to watch such things at scheduled times.) After they watched the show, they would talk about the issues the characters were dealing with, and talk about issues in their own lives.  


I knew the Koinonia word (his email explained was pronounced "coin-oh-knee-uh") had something to do with community. Since then I've learned that it refers to the Holy Community bound together by Holy Spirit in the church. It is a sacred community; a community walking the blessed Way of Jesus. Koinonia is living community that follows the commandment to Love One Another; a community outflowing with generative love beyond the perceived barriers between "us" and "them." 

Many people came out of the pandemic hungry for community. We who spend a good deal of time outdoors found ways to be in community easier than those who live in urban environments, for which I give thanks. Nevertheless, community has been on our collective minds following a time of disconnection.  

I value the Episcopal Youth Community (EYC) I grew up with at my home church and that Canterbury (College Ministry) community of my younger years. While I keep up with some of those individuals, those are no longer what I consider my community. Community is where we are when we are. It is not a thing we remember from the past, it is the people we see right now. It is a relationship with a neighbor. It is showing up to gatherings. 

I will be the first to admit that it seems easier to retreat to the familiar, or pine for what was, than to meet a new person whose story I don't know yet. True Koinonia, Holy Community has permeable edges so that it can be difficult to define who's in and who's out. The Holy Spirit works around the fringes drawing people together, and seeking to bless old and new in the mingling. Like a river, you can never step into the same community twice. It is a living, changing thing. An evangelism teacher once warned me to know the difference between a friendly church, and an insular church of friends. 

As we shift out of the summer hustle, I encourage you (and remind myself) to step into community. If you are part of an established community like a church, notice who is seeking that connection and bring them along. Koinonia is available, but can be inhibited by our stubborn wills. Technologies (newspapers, tv, email, social media, virtual reality) may facilitate the connections, but the personal relationships: knowing the story of the other, is how community is knit together and becomes Koinonia. 



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