Finding Our Way Back to Each Other: Church and the Community of Presence

As part of Calvin University’s January Series, Dr. Vivek Murthy spoke on the theme “Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World.” Dr. Murthy is a physician and public health leader who has served twice as U.S. Surgeon General and has been a leading voice in naming loneliness and social isolation as a growing public-health crisis. Drawing on his clinical experience, research, and national work, he invited listeners to reflect on how deeply human connection matters: For our well-being, our health, and our shared life together.

A Shift in How We Live

Dr. Murthy described how much has changed in the way communities are formed. In previous generations, many people lived more rooted lives. They went to school in one place, built careers nearby, knew their neighbors, and developed friendships that lasted for decades. Community was not something people had to intentionally seek out; it was woven into everyday life.

Today, by contrast, many people move frequently for school or work, experience long hours and fragmented schedules, and rely increasingly on digital connection rather than face-to-face relationships. As a result, many individuals find themselves doing life largely on their own, even while surrounded by others. Loneliness, Dr. Murthy emphasized, is not always about being alone. It is about lacking meaningful connection.

Loneliness and the Body

One of the most striking parts of Dr. Murthy’s talk was his explanation that loneliness does not only affect mental or emotional health. It has immense physiological consequences, as well.

Chronic loneliness creates ongoing stress in the body, which increases inflammation. This inflammatory response is linked to higher risks of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, and other chronic conditions. Loneliness has also been shown to weaken immune function, making individuals more susceptible to infection. Over time, the health impact of persistent isolation can be comparable to other major public-health risk factors.

In other words, loneliness is not a minor or abstract problem. It is a serious condition that affects the whole person.

Opportunities for Churches: Becoming Places of Deep Belonging

In his January Series talk, Vivek Murthy made clear that loneliness is not just an individual struggle—it is a communal one. That insight gives the church a profound opportunity. In a culture shaped by mobility, busyness, and fragmentation, the church can offer something increasingly rare: a place to belong.

The call before us is not simply to add more programs, but to recover and deepen practices of shared life that reflect the love of Christ.

1. Reclaim the Church as a Place of Presence

Many people experience churches as places they attend rather than communities they belong to. Yet Scripture describes the church as a body—interdependent, attentive, and relational.

Reflection

• Do people in our congregation feel known beyond their name?
• Where might attendance be mistaken for belonging?

Discussion Questions

• What makes someone feel truly “seen” in a community?
• When have you personally felt most connected within a church?

Action Ideas

• Encourage leaders to prioritize follow-up conversations and personal invitations.
• Build time into gatherings for meaningful interaction, not just announcements.
• Normalize lingering after services rather than rushing on to the next obligation.

2. Create Smaller Spaces for Being Known

• Large worship gatherings are important, but deep connection usually happens in smaller settings. Dr. Murthy emphasized that meaningful relationships—not simply proximity—are what protect against loneliness.

Reflection

• Are there accessible ways for people to connect in smaller groups?
• Who might be slipping through the cracks because they don’t naturally join groups?

Discussion Questions

• What barriers keep people from joining small groups or ministries?
• How could we make participation feel safer and more welcoming?

Action Ideas

• Offer short-term or low-commitment groups to reduce entry barriers.
• Equip facilitators to focus on listening and mutual sharing, not just content.
• Pair new members with long-time congregants for intentional connection.

3. Practice Everyday Hospitality

• Hospitality does not require elaborate events. Often, loneliness is eased through ordinary, consistent acts of welcome—shared meals, open homes, and simple invitations.

Reflection

• How often do we open our lives, not just our buildings?
• Whose presence might we be unintentionally overlooking?

Discussion Questions

• What does Christian hospitality look like in today’s context?
• How can hospitality be shared across generations and life stages?

Action Ideas

• Encourage members to invite others for meals, walks, or coffee.
• Organize intergenerational gatherings that foster mutual learning.
• Support informal connection rather than relying only on structured programs.

4. Witness Through Shared Life

• Dr. Murthy framed connection as essential to health. The church has long understood it as essential to faith. When churches live as genuine communities of care, they offer a powerful testimony.

Reflection

• How does our shared life reflect Christ to those outside the church?
• Are we modeling a countercultural way of being together?

Discussion Questions

• What might neighbors or visitors notice about how we treat one another?
• How could deeper community be part of our witness?

Action Ideas

• Speak openly about loneliness from the pulpit and in teaching spaces.
• Frame community-building as discipleship, not optional fellowship.
• Celebrate stories of connection and mutual care within the congregation.

A Closing Invitation

Dr. Murthy’s message reminds us that healing loneliness is not only about addressing a crisis: It is about restoring what it means to be human. The church has been entrusted with this work for centuries: to gather people into a shared life shaped by love, presence, and mutual responsibility.

When churches take seriously the call to live as the body of Christ, they offer more than companionship. They offer a glimpse of God’s kingdom, a place where no one is meant to walk alone, and where community itself becomes a means of grace.