Thereβs a crisis of loneliness. Iβm not going to provide any evidence because at this point itβs self-evident. Iβm lonely. A lot of the adults I know are lonely. Iβve written about the phenomena of friendlessness in middle-age elsewhere, and my explanation for the loneliness crisis would essentially be the same: the structures and practices of our culture work against the basic, necessary conditions for deep, lasting, intimate relationships. Itβs possible to have them, but you have to work a lot harder.
Most churches try to mitigate this problem through small groups/home groups/life groups whatever branded name they come up with to describe a small group (best term?) of church members who meet on a semi-regular basis outside of Sunday morning (usually) to study the bible, a book, or pray, fellowship, worship, and so on.
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