“Community” 0
The one thing that always surprised me about Summerbridge was the sense of community there. SBC was where I first understood what community meant. I suppose it’s because we’re all united by the same love for these middle-school students that we’re serving and that’s what keeps us together. And during orientation, there’s such a focus on us being a tight and loving community; we played lots of getting-to-know-you games and there’s a sense of community membership where everyone helps each other out that you just don’t get elsewhere.
Maybe the sense of fellowship is really weaved together when a group of high school and college-age students are jumping around the cafeteria screaming ridiculous cheers like “See Banana, See, see, see banana” or “Just give me some MILK, Moo, Moo, Moo” just to get the students excited about learning. Or maybe it’s the glimmer in a reluctant student’s eye when they finally understand what you’re teaching and are super-engaged in the material. Whatever magic bonds us together as a team of teachers and faculty running this summer academic enrichment program, it works.
I remember the last time I taught at SBC and I re-entered the real world with a sense of culture shock. It’s almost like when you come back from studying abroad and you try to matriculate back into the world you knew before, but your whole mindset has changed. When I left SBC, I didn’t find another bunch of people with the same sense of community membership or anyone who understood my need to snap at everything (during staff meetings, we snap at other people’s statements in agreement to be more efficient in a 40-person meeting).
SBC reminds me of what a community could be. But, it always makes me wonder why we can’t find the same sense of community membership and belonging in a church. You’d think that if we all truly devoted our lives to Christ and loved serving Him so much, it would unite us too, with God’s help. Why if having been through multiple different Christian fellowships, Summerbridge was the first place I felt like a true community?
