Local communities are the epicentre of a nation, one can always tell the health of a nation by way of local communal action. Is our community active in caring for each other and/or those in need?
We explored how connections within our local communities may affect the hope we have for future potential ones, because of the nature of such inter-personal relationships. Here, we wanted to understand the sense of mutual trust, love and respect our community has.
Through these observations, we can understand in areas we can work on as a church, and what we’ve been doing well so far to propel the church forward in growth collectively.
Stories of Hope
Listen to a collection of voice notes from people in our community who have shared what Hope looks like for them
HOPE FOR THE COMMUNITY IS:
Closeness and Connection
75% of HTBB’s community feel positively connected with fellow members.
Females are 9% more open to engaging and connecting with the church community than males in HTBB.
As age increases, the sense of connection and belonging within the community strengthens. While younger members of HTBB display positive connections, they currently express a somewhat milder sense of connection, presenting an avenue for us as a church to cultivate stronger connections as they grow with the HTBB community.
HOPE FOR THE COMMUNITY IS:
Promoting respect and inclusivity
Over 90% of the HTBB community positively perceive the church’s efforts in promoting respect and inclusivity within the community.
While age does not seem to strongly influence this perception, gender and marital status appear to play a significant role.
More than half (58%) of females in HTBB consistently show higher agreement with the church's emphasis on respect and inclusivity across all age groups.
This challenges typical assumptions about gender differences in emotional expressions as well as the representation of females within the community¹ ². This trend reinforces our previous findings which suggests that the ability to express oneself openly at home might not be gender-specific.
While the HTBB community generally values respect and inclusivity, there is still room to improve the experiences of those who have been through separation, divorce, or loss of a spouse - whom have reported slightly milder perceptions of inclusivity.
1 Tara M. Chaplin, “Gender and Emotion Expression: A Developmental Contextual Perspective,” Emotion Review 7, no. 1 (December 5, 2014): 14–21, https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073914544408.
2 Noraida Endut et al., “The Effect of Gender Role on Attitudes towards Inequitable Gender Norms among Malaysian Men,” Sexuality and Culture 24, no. 6 (May 19, 2020): 2113–36, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-020-09740-6.HOPE FOR THE COMMUNITY IS:
Trust and Support within the community
87% of the HTBB community feel safe and confident when engaging in discussions about personal and sensitive subjects in the community.
89% of the HTBB community express confidence in the transparency of communication within the community, across all genders and age groups.
74% of the HTBB community feel that there are healthy and supportive groups within the community where they can discuss private and personal matters openly.
Although a significant portion of the community share positive feelings, there is an opportunity to enhance the experiences of the remaining 26% of individuals who may not feel a sense of belonging or support in one of these community groups.
As age increases, so does the willingness to engage in challenging conversations.
This trend might reflect established personal lives and long-term community involvement, resulting in increased trust and comfort.
The males in HTBB generally report slightly lower levels of relatability to support groups across all age groups when compared to the females.
Although a tendency is observed where men exhibit greater ease at expressing their emotions at homes, there is still opportunity to support more open communication for men in a communal setting.
Ways to engage:
If you're aged 11-17 or have a child between those ages, we'd love you to have you join us on Sundays: htbb.org/youth
For both practical and supportive help in separation and divorce: htbb.org/restoredlives
Get connected or involved by joining a team, sharing meals, discussion, worship, and prayer here:
If you have an answered prayer, an encouraging word, a story of healing or maybe you've come to faith, we’d love to hear your stories: htbb.org/story
Help families in need through some of our social action initiatives: htbb.org/socialaction
"Hope for the City" is a sermon series that unfolds through a series of photos, insights and audio stories - from the perspectives of the people in HTBB’s community. Each piece represents their enduring hope amid different circumstances — hope for their homes, neighbourhoods, city and nation. Discover the rest of the exhibition on-site at the Lot 10 Rooftop from September 3rd - 24th.