Community Observation

My definition of community is a group of people who interact with one another, who are in the same geographical location and share common beliefs, values, or behaviors.

The community that I observed was a church. I do not go to this church but my little sister and some family friends of mine are in this community.

(a) Anthropologist: The member of this church participates in social and religious activities. The time that I happen to observe this community was during Halloween. It was a social gathering that the church community orchestrated. They also have religious services on Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. On Tuesday is the DHC youth group which is the age group of 7-12^th grade. On Wednesday is DHC kids which has an age group of 0-6^th grade. Although on Sundays they having equipping classes, DHC kids, brunch, and worship service. This church also performs baptisms and are involved in other aspects of the greater san juan county community.

(g) Linguist: The primary language used by the residents in this community is English. The literary resource that they use is the bible.

I was extremely nervous walking into a church that I have never been to before. I was worried that the community was going to be unwelcoming and judgmental. Although I was pleasantly surprised about how open, welcoming, and generous the members of this community were. The people in this church shared a common belief religiously but also how one should treat other. They opened my horizon and reminded me not to jump to automatic negative conclusions about a group of people. Their sense of community and putting the well-being of the group as a whole over individuals was very refreshing to see. The members of this group also used their individual skills, knowledge, and resources to benefit the group. It seemed that the involved member always wanted to contribute in any way possible which I thought was awesome. It was great to see how far the organization has come through all the people who having brought something to offer.