I read an article this past week from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) about a study looking at the connection between what they call place attachment and physical activity, especially walking. The study, held in Calgary, revealed an incredibly strong connection between a person’s attachment to their neighborhood and their practice of walking or engaging in physical activity in the community. The researchers found that, “…physical activity, specifically walking for transport and leisure, is positively associated with participants’ place attachment. Moreover, the likelihood of engaging in these activities weekly and the total time spent on them were linked to place attachment.”
People fall in love with the neighborhood one step at a time.
This has been one of my most consistent invitations for congregations interested in connecting with the neighborhood where they live and worship; get outside and walk. In my opinion, walking is one of those essential practices that builds a sense of belonging and devotion to a place which is essential for building the kind of loving attention that contributes to the common good. We can not love what we do not know, and far too often as churches we simply do not know the neighborhoods where our churches are located.
In the US, we are overwhelmingly vehicle-centric, spending inordinate amounts of time in cars going from one place to another, increasingly disconnected from the communities we are driving through. Many of our churches have become commuter communities, where members drive several miles to attend church. This means that the only time our neighbors see us, is when we walk from church to parking lot, and often the only time we see our neighbors is within the context of our well-meaning service.
But this disconnect from the communities where we live and worship, the very disembodied love we have for our neighborhoods, ensures that our community engagement is always on our time and under our control. We miss out on all the emergent and beautifully random interactions and observations that build long-term trust and attachment. So, in my opinion, each of our churches, commuter and otherwise, ought to find ways to build and maintain a practice of neighborhood walking as a keystone habit in our communities.
This doesn’t need to be a difficult or complicated process. After worship, invite some fellow congregants to take a walk with you through the neighborhood. Walk to the nearest coffee shop for the coffee hour time. Walk to the café or brewery for a post-meeting conversation. Walk with the kiddos to the local park. Set some ambitious goals to walk as much of the neighborhood as possible. All the while, pay attention for where God is at work in the community you are walking through.
If we commit to this kind of practice, I think we’ll find a few things are true:
- Walking slows us down enough to notice unique and beautiful parts of our neighborhood that would otherwise go unseen. On my walks I’ve discovered beautiful works of art, seemingly hidden green spaces and parks, and small locally owned businesses off the beaten path.
- Walking creates significant opportunities to interact with neighbors outside of programming and projects, setting the stage for authentic relationships. I continue to be struck by how willing neighbors often are to talk about the community with someone they bump into on the sidewalk. The likelihood of this goes up exponentially if you have a puppy or a baby with you. Everyone wants to say hello to the cuties.
- Walking allows us to sense the energy and spirit of a place better than data ever can. We are embodied creatures, and our senses can pick up an incredible amount of detail that demographic studies, news stories, or rumor ever can.
These experiences and others contribute to what the study calls place attachment, what I’d say is love of community. Being bodily present and engaged in the neighborhoods where we live and worship fosters a love for the place where God has called us to be church. We show up for those people and places that we love. We make commitments without the expectation of return to the people and places that we love. It is this kind of love that fosters authentic relationships with our neighbors and our neighborhood, and that love can be fostered step by step.
So, I pray that you find some time to walk, jog, run, or otherwise move through your neighborhood in a way that fosters love and attachment, and that you find a few other members of your community to come along.
