Community
A community (from the Latin communitas , community, community) is usually understood in Christianity as a spiritual community . Communities of various kinds exist in many denominations of Christianity. The concept of the Vita communis has its roots in early Christian coenobism .
General
Communities can denominational or interdenominational be. The term community is used for different forms, for example:
- for communities that consist only of men, only of women or also those that accept members of both sexes or families
- for communities with a common place of residence ( monastery , convent , monastery , abbey , priory , beguinage , etc.), occasionally also for those in which the members live and work in their own place of residence
- for communities whose members live in one seat but work in different places
- The Hutterites living on Bruderhof hold a special position . This Anabaptist church fellowship lives in principle together. It is similar with the Bruderhöfer .
Structures
Communities usually have a clear organizational structure and leadership. The form in which religious vows or promises are made depends on the respective legal and life form of the community.
See also
literature
- Franziskus Christoph Joest: The landscape of the evangelical communities . In: Ordenskorrespondenz , Vol. 58 (2017), Issue 1, pp. 14-22.
- Evangelical Church in Germany : Living with commitment. Communities and spiritual communities in the Evangelical Church in Germany (= EKD texts, No. 88), 2007; therein: Evangelical and spiritual communities in the past and present - a) On the use of language .