Associations
Some people had never heard of contact tracing before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold around the world in 2020, but the approach has been used in epidemiology and police work for years. The goal of contact tracing is to identify everyone someone has come in contact with during a designated period of time. Whenever you do contract tracing, the number of people identified as contacts often surprise people.
Take a moment to try and identify all of the folks you have encountered during the last 48 hours. Start with the people whose names you know — friends and acquaintances. Chances are this will be a fairly simple list to compile. Now begin to think about people you may have encountered during the workday or leisure activities. Now move on to the people you encountered when you went to the grocery store or the gas station. Chances are these are people whose names you don’t really know, even if you see them on a regular basis.
While most of us don’t talk frequently about contact tracing today, it is still a good way to begin to think about associations — the connecting points, institutions, and relationships that are a part of every community.
One key association for you is your congregation, but chances are you are connected to and impacted by far more associations than you realize. As you think about growing deeper in relationship with your community, it is helpful to identify the associations in your community and to explore the impact that those associations have on individuals and on the community as a whole. As you talk to your team and to individuals. You can use the following questions to help identify associations in your community.
Reflection by Pastor John Wertz, Jr.
Reflection Questions for Association
The list of questions is adapted from The Church as Movement, pg. 194-195.
- Do the primary employers look out for the common good of the city or their own good?
- Is the government centralized or decentralized, giving power to the local neighborhoods?
- Does the police force look out for the underprivileged or add to the divisiveness of the city?
- Do the lawmakers and judges treat the people with fairness or with favoritism?
- Is it easy or difficult for small businesses to flourish in the city?
- Which institutions are caring for the homeless in a God-honoring way?
- Are churches seeking to bring a greater sense of the kingdom to their neighborhood, or are they looking out for themselves?
- What is the reputation of the religious leaders’ churches?
- Who are the most powerful people in the city, and do they promote justice or their own welfare?
- What are the most influential media institutions, and how does their reporting influence people?
- What are the primary educational institutions, and how are they shaping the life of the children and the city?
- Does everybody have equal opportunity when it comes to education?