Community is the fruit of love

In running a SCA there are many things to consider: how do we make SCA a place that people want to join? How do we get new people to try it? How do we make it relatable to everyone?

In my school I was on a task team that dealt with the chapel and Christian influences in the school but it was up to me and my friend to run SCA.  SCA had only run for two years or so and our focus seemed always to be “How do we make this cool so people will join?” We did manage to grow the SCA a little that year but it was not until I left that I realised our big weakness; why we couldn’t get people to commit and become a community.

We had been so focused on looking at the rest of the school and wanting to get them to join that we neglected to look after and disciple those who were already with us. Our motives were good and we genuinely wanted to bring people to know Christ but we forgot to disciple the people who already had the desire to know Him.

When we look at the early church we see that community and sharing was the base. In Acts 2:42-44 we read “They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord’s Supper and in prayer. . . . And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had.”

It is good to look outwards to spread the word to those who do not know it, but it is vital to grow a community within the SCA. From the quietest grade 8 to the most energetic and outgoing matric, everyone should feel welcome and part of the group. For many SCA can be the place of refuge in an environment where following your beliefs can be incredibly difficult. SCA can be a place of love and grace - don’t neglect the power of a loving community to bring change in people’s lives.

There is a song called “If we are the Body” that sums it up pretty well:

“It's crowded in worship today 
As she slips in 
Trying to fade into the faces The girls' teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
...
Jesus paid much too high a price 
For us to pick and choose who should come”

If your focus is love, the fruits will be community and a place where people feel accepted. SCA doesn’t have to be restricted to the 20min at lunch- “...the believers met together constantly...”. Whatever it means for your school, be a place of love and grace, and maybe you will see God working in new ways.

Lauren Hunt

UCT Student (Head of SCA 2009)