Casper ter Kuile is one of the authors of the How We Gather report which is an exploration into how Millennials are finding and building communities of meaning and belonging. He’s also the co-host of the podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text which itself has grown into a community and business in its own right. During our conversation we discuss what community means to Casper and how our need for belonging in the modern age is being met by different secular organisations.

Some excerpts from this episode:

• in a time of social isolation and mental health crises how do we live lives of deep connection
• community is a group of people where you are deeply known and deeply loved
• there’s an overuse of the word community because there’s such a need for it
• community is not fun all of the time: it can be stifling and people know your business
• community is wonderful but is also terrible
• the pendulum as swung to the other side where people are too free but it comes with this sense of disconnection
• relationships are held by structures
• there’s been a shift that people would rather affiliate with thought leaders, influencers and people rather than institutions and companies
• it’s incredibly powerful to see ourselves in another’s story
• in fitness communities people come for the body but stay for the breakthrough
• people gather around a common activity (the third thing)
• you can only lead others as far as you’ve gone yourself
• fill up yourself before you can help others
• leaders need a place where their needs are met as well (which isn’t necessarily their own communities/organisations)
• in our culture having a hot body is something we will pay for
• it’s easier to build communities around fitness groups because culturally it’s more acceptable to pay for that
• donations are a simple way to generate financial sustainability for communities
• have something of value that people recognise and then have community as the second layer of value that people get as a benefit
• there’s a hesitation about money and community but we shouldn’t be afraid to bring money into community and articulating its value
• community is a powerful healthcare strategy
• could we see tax breaks for communities
• in order to pay for community people need to not only justify to themselves but also to their peers
• can we design our organisations based on the principles of community
• if a community is only for itself only, it will die.
• communities need a purpose bigger than itself
• more and more of us our finding our closest friendships at work
• maybe there’s something beyond the triple bottom line which is about our relational connection in organisations
• a covenant is about how we’re going to be in this work that we’re doing together and can help with managing conflict
• it’s not just about scaling wide but also scaling deep
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To find out more about Casper’s work check out:

https://www.howwegather.org/

http://www.caspertk.com/

http://www.harrypottersacredtext.com/