_CtoC Overcoming Isolation

We crave community, but more and more adults aren’t getting it in our current culture. Even before the height of COVID-19, America’s loneliness epidemic was rising dramatically, with three in five adults reporting feelings of loneliness. Younger generations, perhaps the most digitally connected generations, are experiencing greater levels of loneliness than older generations, with nearly eight in ten Gen-Zers reporting loneliness. In Connected to Christ: Overcoming Isolation through Community, author Brian Davies offers a solution to this crisis.

“As a culture, we are losing our places of community, and it’s doing a number on us,” writes Davies. “Feelings of isolation, loneliness, anxiety, and depression are rapidly increasing. And in the ultimate twist of irony, instead of being driven toward one another, we’re drifting further and further apart.”

Davies offers readers a guide to how community is found, realized, and practiced. “Jesus invites us to identity and belonging in Him,” says Davies. Through biblical examples and stories from real life, readers will learn about Jesus’ invitation to find community in Him, under the umbrella of the Gospel.

For more information on Connected to Christ: Overcoming Isolation through Community, or to order the book, please visit cph.org, or contact Elizabeth Pittman, Public Relations, at Elizabeth.Pittman@cph.org.

Praise for Connected to Christ: Overcoming Isolation through Community

Connected to Christ: Overcoming Isolation through Community is the perfect book at the perfect time. We live in a world of technology that is designed to connect us, yet somehow we have ended up more isolated than ever before. And now, we have a global pandemic that has moved us even further apart, away from one another and away from places of worship.

Brian Davies uses Scripture and real-life anecdotes to remind us of something so important—God calls us to live in community with one another, and He calls us to live our lives with compassion and mercy. The tools provided in this book are essential for all of us, especially in this moment. We need the Lord, and we need each other.

Connected to Christ: Overcoming Isolation through Community is a powerful and engaging call to action. We must reconnect with our communities. We must reconnect with our churches. This book will help us get there.

Marcus Leshock, news reporter and anchor, WGN-TV Chicago

Pastor Davies’s book could not come at a more crucial time as the pandemic reveals how much we need and depend on being with one another in community. I appreciate how Pastor Davies frames the idea of community within our culture today as well as in God’s story. The biblical examples he offers help guide readers through the importance of community and why God desires it for us. Stories of his ministry and examples from our world today round out a great resource for church leaders to help their communities deepen their relationships.

Chip May, executive director, Camp Arcadia

It seems strange to assert that one of the most countercultural claims that we as Christians could make in twenty-first-century America is that we are created for community, but here we are: our society is scattered, tattered, and—despite the promises of technology—disconnected. Brian Davies incisively diagnoses our ills and demonstrates a more excellent way: connected to Christ and His Body, the Church. Read this book to recover a vision of what it looks like to live a life of faith in Christian community and to lead a body of believers that is bound both to the Lord and one another.

Rev. Dr. Ryan P. Tinetti, pastor, Trinity Lutheran Church, Arcadia, Michigan

Years ago, I ministered to a man enduring a terrible tragedy in his life. He was angry at God and struggling to keep his faith. In the midst of his immense pain, the church had rallied around him with love, support, encouragement, and prayers. Expressing his gratitude to me one day, he said, “I’m not sure if I believe in Christ anymore, but I believe in the Body of Christ more than ever!” Eventually, the love of the church helped him believe again in the love of Jesus. This book is going to help create more churches like that!

Rev. Scot Christenson, senior pastor, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and School, Orange, California

Rev. Davies has written an inspirational book that points the Church back to its Acts foundation. Connected to Christ gives the Church vision and practical skills for overcoming isolation by establishing a vibrant community. Brian gives us some heartwarming stories of the power of the people of God coming alongside isolated people and loving them into a Christ-centered community. . . . The book points out how the Lord’s vision is that all who find identity and belonging in Him also find community with one another. Rev. Davies finally leads us to the practical ways to discover the richness of life together. This is a must-read book for anyone seeking an authentic community. If you follow the lessons in this book, it could create life-transformation in your church.

Rev. B. Keith Haney, assistant to the president for Missions, Human Care, and Stewardship, Iowa West District LCMS

Brian does a tremendous job of helping us see the biblical call for community and why God has designed us for community. This book is so much more than just information, it is also inspiration that leads to genuine transformation. The theological depth, with the real-life application, makes this book one that is for everyone!

Rev. Greg Griffith, lead pastor, King of Kings Church, Omaha, Nebraska

About the Author

Brian Davies serves as pastor of Lord of Glory Lutheran Church in Grayslake, Illinois, and as chaplain for the Grayslake Fire Department. Rev. Davies graduated from Concordia River Forest (now Concordia Chicago) in 2002, studying communications and biblical languages, and then went on to earn his master of divinity at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. He and his wife, Beth, have three children: Kate, Megan, and Luke.