Introduction: The Loss of Community How do we develop community, especially Christian community?  This question is the question of our day in a way that it perhaps has never been in the history of humankind.  From the invention of the automobile to Smartphones and Covid, community has been torn from the heart of our modern society. [1]   Church attendance has declined steadily as well.  Those communal institutions, such as schools and universities, have recently become hotbeds of hate, the inevitable result of Progressivism. [2] Many Evangelical churches have contributed to the breakdown of community beyond their shuttering churches during Covid.  As Evangelicals abandoned the mainline denominations in the 1970s-2010 that themselves abandoned historic, Christian theology and ethics, some formed Evangelical denominations.  Many, however, became independent churches, lacking a larger, institutional community structure that could accomplish what was needed for missions and ministry, y

According to a report from  Christian Today  (30 March, 2024), Scotland's government is seeking to ban so-called 'conversion therapy': The Scottish government says it wants to protect people "from the harm of conversion practices". Under current proposals, a crime will have been committed if so-called conversion practices have been "committed with the intent that the victim's sexual orientation or gender identity would be changed or suppressed". The recommended penalty is up to seven years in prison, a fine of up to £10,000, or both. The report also notes that, while the Church of Scotland is in general agreement with the proposed ban, the Roman Catholic and 'other' churches are not because of religious freedom and the rights of parents. Indeed, opposition to 'conversion' itself seems to be at issue.  The Good News of the Gospel is good news because God's salvation has come to us, making it possible for us to convert.  It has