Garrett Raymond

Ms. Hamby
UWRT 1101 #19
8 October 2014
Discourse Community
A discourse community is a group of people who share a set of basic values,
assumptions, and ways of communicating about those goals. There are many discourse
communities out there all around us. Some we know others we give no attention to. Some
are large others only a couple members. Through my observations and analyzing of
various writings I decided to pick a discourse community that is very large but many
people dont know much about it. I choose the religious community of Elevation. A
community that believes in sharing Gods message and making people feel belonged in
the world.
Elevation in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a Southern Baptist multi-site church
pastored by Steven Furtick. Its one of fastest growing churches in the United States and it
can be describe as an a pop culture-friendly church with an orthodox Christen message.
The elevation community aggressively reaches out to people who are far from God. They
are not traditional like other churches but still believe in and maintain a conservative
theological position. Elevations many beliefs include the bible, which is Gods word to
all people, the trinity is that God exists as one substance in three persons: The father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit, and finally believe in Eternal life after death and the salvation of
all men. Their Church is a local community of baptized believers unified through faith in
Christ. The Church works together in love and unity, intent on the ultimate purpose of

glorifying Christ. They believe having values helps them develop a unified sense of
commitment in seeing people far from god raised to life in Christ. So they made a tenstep code of values so that they can keep the vision clear. 1. Jesus is center, 2. Believe big
and start small, 3. Honor one another to glorify God, 4. Contributors, not consumers, 5.
Think inside the box, 6. You can learn more by doing less, 7. Dont maintain, multiply, 8.
Eat the fish and leave the bones, 9. Want to be known for what they are for, and finally
10. Wont take anything for granted. This is a group that meets weekly and wants to
accomplish good in the world.
Through talking, writings and researching I was able to learn more about the
people of the community and what they are like. The people who belong to Elevation are
normally very nice and love talking about their beliefs. Many people but not all are very
pushy in their faith and want you to believe in the same thing as they do. I already have
my own faith that I raised with so I find it very annoying that they try to change my
beliefs. Other then that they normally cool and do normal stuff you would regularly
enjoy. They dress how they want except they normally dress a little more formal for their
church service. They meet weekly, discussing about god and how to improve your life.
They make groups where they meet weekly as well. They can be almost anything but
normally they are just help groups to make your faith stronger. They talk normal and
have the same attitude as a normal person would. They get together as big groups
normally to hang out, watch movies and etc. The people who belong to the same church
pretty much all knew each other and will always start conversation up with another. Its a
very friendly, loving group of people who are part of the Elevation community.

To gain more detail about Elevation I Interviewed my cousin who has been part of
the community for over a year now. I asked him how does he like Elevation? He
responded by saying it was the best thing he has ever done in his life. He loves every
minute of it and volunteers on the weekly basis. He said he used to be lost and didnt
know what to do in his life but elevation turned his life around and know he says he
finally on the right track. Another question I asked him was what was one thing you
gained from being in the Elevation community. He said he gained courage and
confidence. If he never attended Elevation he would still be stuck in house doing nothing.
My last question to him was would he recommend Elevation to anyone? HE told me he
recommends it to anyone who doesnt have a faith already. He tells me it will change
your life.