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Jim North's avatar

In a recent interview, Zach Lambert, author of the Public Theology Substack, spoke of the concepts of bound set versus center set communities. As Zach explained it, the majority of churches and denominations operate as bound set communities. Bound set communities are defined by boundaries; primarily around belief, but often around behavior too. You’re either inside the boundaries or you’re not. The more rigid the boundaries, the more closely they tend to be policed. In a nutshell, it’s about defining who’s in and who’s out based on a checklist.

In the center set model, there’s a central point that everyone in the community orbits arounds. For the community that Zach has built, that center is a focus on living out the way of Jesus and trusting in His finished work–His incarnation, life, death, and resurrection. Zach beautifully describes it in a metaphor – Imagine the planets orbiting the sun. In a center set community, Jesus is the sun. Some people are closer, some are farther away. At times, your orbit might bring you nearer or farther. Sometimes you’re traveling alongside others in the community, and sometimes it feels like you’re on your own. But if you’re in orbit–if you’re oriented toward the center–you’re part of the larger story we’re living out together.

Despite working within the bound set community that is the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, for me, has always aspired toward the spirit of a center set community, by his willingness to reach out to those in need of basic human understanding, love and support, regardless of their place inside or outside of the bounds of the community he represented. He will be missed.

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J AZ's avatar

Such an eloquent and informative post on the passing of this uncommon leader! His rest is well earned

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