An Acts 2 Church in a Lonely World

The Loneliness Epidemic

In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy released a 68-page report entitled Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation. In the introduction to the report, he cited multiple scientific studies which found that about one in two adults in America reported experiencing loneliness. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control echoed this concern in 2024, going on to state that social isolation and loneliness can increase a person’s risk for numerous medical conditions, including heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, depression, anxiety, suicidality, dementia, and more.

But this is not only an American problem. In 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on Social Connection released a report which found that one in six people worldwide experience loneliness, estimating that 871,000 deaths each year can be linked to loneliness. The WHO report also noted that “although people across all age groups and all regions of the world are affected by loneliness, it is most common among adolescents and young adults (around 1 in 5) and in lower-income countries (nearly 1 in 4 people).”

In response to this epidemic, each of these organizations proposes strategies and solutions ranging from public awareness campaigns to government policy reforms. However, the end goal of each recommendation is the same: promoting social connection at the community level. As the report from the WHO noted, “communities are where connection happens. They are where people live, work, learn, play, and age. That’s why community-level strategies are important for helping people feel more connected and less lonely.”

The Church's Answer

I believe that the church of Jesus Christ is uniquely positioned to offer multiple avenues of community to our socially isolated neighbors. Not only can we offer connection through personal relationships and Christian fellowship, but we do so while sharing together a “good news of great joy” that offers a deeper meaning and purpose for our lives. In Acts 2:42-47, Luke paints for his readers a picture of the earliest church community, a picture that gives us a glimpse into what the church can be at its best. In this passage, Luke describes four specific practices, each of which is just as important for the church today as it was back in the first century.

The Apostles’ Teaching. The early church was committed to giving and receiving the teachings of Jesus as passed down by the Apostles. This behavior was both intentional and consistent. Remember that back then there were no creeds, theology books, or Christian media. The only way to learn and grow in one’s faith was to gather, to meet, to teach, and to learn. While we are blessed now to have abundant resources from which to learn, there is nothing quite as effective as gathering with other believers in community to receive from one another in word and song the teachings of our Lord.

The Fellowship. The second practice is probably most salient to a conversation on loneliness and social connection in the local church. The Greek word here (koinōnia) comes from the root koinos, which means “common” or “shared.” As such, it seems that “the fellowship” is what Luke is describing in verses 44-45 when he tells how the early Jerusalem Christians “had everything in common” and “sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.” Fellowship is a practice of living life not as private individuals who happen to come together once a week on Sundays, but as one singular organism—one body.

The Breaking of Bread. As part of this shared life, the earliest Christians would gather for the “breaking of bread.” This phrase can refer to two things at once: a gathering for shared meals (as described in verse 46) and partaking of the Lord’s Supper. The former offers a beautiful and natural opportunity to develop those kinds of relationships that can serve as an antidote to loneliness. The latter serves to ground those relationships within the shared story of Christ’s sacrificial love for us—the same kind of love we are called to show to one another.

The Prayers. The Greek words here are probably best understood not as “prayer,” but as “the prayers.” I believe that this semantic difference is important because so many modern Christians view prayer primarily as a private activity. Yet what Luke describes here is not private, but communal. Most likely he is referring to specific Jewish prayers and liturgies common at the time, but the modern application for us is really pretty simple: as a church, we should regularly engage in prayer together.

Looking in the Mirror

So, with all of this in mind, I wanted to take a look at our own congregation, Alliance Methodist Church. In doing so, I wanted to explore some of the following questions: How are we doing at building community? What are our strengths and our weaknesses in this area? Do our actions match our beliefs when it comes to building community? And of course, how can we improve in the areas we are weak?

Many of you will remember the brief survey on church community and loneliness which I distributed through the e-newsletter and Sunday bulletin. This short survey contained rating scales (1 to 5), single-choice, check-all-that-apply, and open-ended questions. I also used something called the UCLA Loneliness Scale, which is a short tool designed as a basic screening for loneliness. I was really excited to receive 49 responses, which means that approximately one-third of those in attendance on an average Sunday responded. I also followed up on the survey with a couple of conversations with individuals in our congregation who are relatively new and who seem to have assimilated into our church body well, as I really wanted their perspective on what it takes to plug in to our church.

Each of the survey questions provided interesting insight into our church’s successes and failures in building community. However, when taken as a whole, I think the survey results highlighted three areas worth exploring further in our church family.

Area 1: A Felt-Connection Gap. On the surface, our church seems to be well-connected. About two-thirds of respondents rated their feeling of connection to the people of Alliance at a four or higher (out of five), and slightly more said they could name three or more people at Alliance they could call on in a difficult season. However, on the UCLA Loneliness Scale, 22% of respondents met the criteria for being lonely.

One clear takeaway here is that church attendance alone does not eliminate all feelings of loneliness. But to look at it another way, approximately 25% (or more) of the people who sit around us on Sunday mornings struggle, at least sometimes, with feelings of loneliness and social disconnection. They might not show it on the surface, but dig a little deeper and those feelings are there.

Area 2: An Acts 2 Deficiency. Another of the goals of this survey was to find out where in our church people are experiencing community, and how well that aligns with the four practices identified in Acts 2. While it can be somewhat challenging to do an apples-to-apples comparison of the early Jerusalem church to ours, it was easy enough to identify which practices we do better than others.

Not surprisingly, 86% said they experienced genuine community through Sunday Worship. As part of our Sunday Worship time, we do engage in the Apostles' teaching, corporate prayer, and breaking of bread—at least in the Eucharistic sense. However, far fewer respondents said they experienced genuine community in ministries and activities that take these practices to a level approaching that of the early church. Only 37% said they found community in meals and fellowship events, and an even lower percentage marked activities like discipleship groups and Sunday School.

Now, I don’t think this means that these gatherings are ineffective at building community. Rather, it means that the majority of our church hasn’t taken advantage of the blessings that these smaller groups and ministries provide. In other words, if we want to experience the fullness of community as the early church did, we must go deeper.

Area 3: Conviction vs. Practice. One set of questions in the survey was included to see if there was a gap between what we believe and what we do in helping people find their place at Alliance. First, I asked respondents to rate from one to five their agreement with the statement “Helping new or disconnected people find community at Alliance is part of my role as a church member—not just the job of pastors and staff.” As you might expect, 82% responded with either four or five.

However, in another question, I listed specific actions that are needed to form relationships, and asked respondents how many they had done in the past few months. Some of the actions were easier (e.g., introducing yourself to someone new) and some were more difficult (e.g., inviting someone to a meal, event, or group). As you can see from the graph, there was a large drop-off from the easier behaviors to the harder ones. So basically, the majority of us believe it’s our responsibility to help others find community, but we struggle with taking the social risks required to do so.

This data also lines up with what my interviewees told me. Both individuals found our church friendly and welcoming overall, but said that it still primarily took their own effort and initiative to make strong connections within the Alliance body. This should lead us to wonder what happens to Alliance visitors or potential members who aren’t as self-confident, or who are newer to church and don’t understand how this all works. I’m afraid that if we are honest, many of them slip through the cracks. Maybe they visit for a while and then gradually fade away because they don’t get to experience the deep relationships that many of us find so rewarding at Alliance.

Going Forward

So, where do we go from here? For the church, the call to a life of deep community is not optional. Certainly, it probably looks different in the 21st century than it did in the 1st, but our call still persists. To fall short here is to fall short in how we care for those God sends our way. In our case, I believe we have to approach our growth in this area from two angles.

The first angle is the discipleship angle. If Alliance is going to succeed at living in Acts 2 community, then it’s going to take a deeper level of commitment from all of us. This may seem radical in comparison to the typical American church, but we have to understand that church life is about much more than simply gathering for worship an hour each week. Rather, it’s about living and sharing life with one another. We also all need to be better at the art of hospitality. Let’s go beyond the easy step of just introducing ourselves to someone new. Instead, invite that new person out to lunch after church, or set up a time later in the week to grab coffee. Grab their phone number and reach out a few days later to get to know them better. Invite them to a specific group or ministry you’re involved in and be the person there waiting for them when they come, and introduce them to others.

The second angle is a structural angle. This one is initially going to be more on your staff and church council to explore, but I believe that we can be more effective in establishing “assimilation pathways” by which first-time guests find a place to belong in our community. This could mean building our greeting and welcoming team, developing a system of timely follow-up with visitors, or establishing a clear pathway to church membership. Or likely, some combination of all of those. Be in prayer for your leadership as we continue to pray and discuss how God is leading.

The Call to Community

The Acts 2 church community may seem like a pipe dream to the modern churchgoer. That level of commitment seems almost absurd to us, and frankly, it runs contrary to the rugged individualism that defines our American culture. But individualism and isolation are not God’s design. The loneliness epidemic is merely a symptom of what happens when we fail to live in community. And though the gospel is far more than just a cure for a modern cultural problem, it does reveal God’s intended design for human flourishing. My hope and prayer for Alliance is that God can use us as a beautiful picture of what life looks like when His Kingdom of love and unity takes hold on earth.