When I think of the word neighborhood, my mind drifts back to the worlds of Sesame Street and Mister Rogers — places where people knew each other’s names, differences were celebrated, and kindness was the default posture. Nostalgia has a way of softening reality.

For many of us, that was never the world we lived in. And for most of us here today, it still isn’t.

I’m a pastor and a church planter. I’ve spent years studying community, watching how it thrives in some cultures and struggles in others. In many parts of Asia and Africa, the church grows rapidly within collectivist societies where interdependence is not optional — it’s essential for survival. People rely on one another daily, and that reliance builds strong communal bonds.

America, however, has a different dream — one shaped around rugged independence. Success here is often defined by not needing help from anyone. In a culture that prizes isolation as achievement, true community becomes almost impossible. If you believe you don’t need others, why would you value them? Why invest in connection?

That fiercely independent mindset may be a cultural ideal, but it is not a blueprint for human flourishing. It is certainly not a biblical one. We are wired for connection. We are called to love, support, and learn from each other. To do that, we need humility—and the willingness to learn both from Scripture and from the cultures that are doing community well.

Enter Open Arms Community Church and other ministries like Communities of Transformation (CoT), Destinations Bradford, Bright Alternatives, and the Bradford Ministerium Churches. These organizations are filled with groups of individuals from varied backgrounds who commit not just to improving their own lives but to growing together. Not as isolated problem-solvers but as a community.

I believe God has a dream for our city — a dream of people who are willing to share their lives, help one another, and rebuild the social fabric we’ve allowed to fray.

This isn’t an idealistic pipe dream, but a dream that I believe God gave me in the summer of 2020. I was standing in the field at the former Central Christian school. I had a vision of a community worshipping together in unity. At that moment, I saw children climbing the old oak tree on the property, filling the playground, which had been restored. I saw a bounce house filled with children happily jumping and playing. Parents talking and laughing together at their children. Then I looked up towards the hill and saw someone preaching to a crowd of gathered people, listening intently to God’s Word. It overwhelmed me; I said to God, “I don’t know how to see this come to fruition.”

He said in response in my heart, “What will happen to them if you don’t?”

Since then, I have devoted myself to seeing a unified community of worshippers in Bradford. We have seen so many breakthroughs. People working together that previously have never considered helping one another. People coming to faith that previously had none and were broken beyond repair. People recovering from addiction and turning their lives around.

But transformation requires participation. Bradford has roughly 7,000 residents. Our congregations and other organizations have a fraction of that number of active participants. The work ahead of us is enormous.

And it starts with asking ourselves a deceptively simple question: How many of us actually know our neighbors?

National research is startling: Only 10% of people can name all eight of their immediate neighbors. Only 3% know meaningful personal details about every household. Less than 1% know their neighbors’ deeper hopes, challenges, or fears.

We walk past each other daily — strangers living yards apart.

Our city faces undeniable struggles. Among the highest drug overdose death rates in the country. Higher-than-average excessive drinking rates. Nearly half of adults diagnosed with a mental illness. A poverty rate 13% higher than the national average.

We can read those numbers and decide Bradford is broken beyond repair. Or we can choose to view our city — and the people who make it — through a different lens: one that recognizes their value, potential, and humanity.

When Jesus named the two greatest commandments — loving God and loving people — He wasn’t offering a poetic suggestion. He was laying out the foundation for a thriving, compassionate society.

That’s why that is our Purpose at Open Arms Community Church.

For many Americans, the idea of loving neighbors the way we love ourselves or our families is revolutionary. But that revolution starts with proximity.

Several months ago, I realized I’d lived in my home for 18 years without truly knowing the people living around me. I knew faces. I knew greetings exchanged at the mailbox. But I didn’t know what kept my neighbors up at night, what they celebrated, or how I could pray for them.

If we want to change a community, we must first choose to enter it.

As Eugene Peterson paraphrases John 1:14 in The Message: “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.”

Jesus didn’t love from afar. He showed up.

Our church chose to take that call seriously — we physically moved downtown last spring to be closer to the people we serve.

If Bradford is going to change, it won’t happen through programs alone. It will begin with neighbors deciding to be neighbors again.

Here’s where we start:

SEE — Ask to see people the way Jesus sees them.

ACCEPT — Embrace their differences, even when they challenge us.

PRAY — Bring their needs before God and ask how you can help meet them.

This isn’t a theory. It’s a movement waiting to happen.

Bradford doesn’t need more isolation. It needs people willing to invest in one another, share life, and build trust. It needs neighborhoods full of people who are visible, available, and compassionate.

It needs people willing to ask for a heart that sees, accepts, and acts.

If you’re searching for a place to start, Open Arms Community Church is one such place. But whether you come to one of our services or simply knock on a neighbor’s door, the true transformation of Bradford begins with one simple step:

Show up. See someone. Be a neighbor.

That’s how communities are reborn. Join us in the movement here at openarmscommunitychurch.org/push-back-the-darkness

(Rev. Zoe Hatcher is lead pastor of Open Arms Community Church.)