Saintly CEO: You're Called to Build Community | Family (Part 1 of 3)
Part 1: The Theology of Community and How to Build it For Your Family
Happy Monday folks! Last Monday of January — can’t believe it’s already been a month. I hope your New Year’s goals are making good progress!
Today, we are kicking off a three-part series on community building. First, we discuss the ‘theology’ of community building and our responsibility to do so — along with the first community we need to focus on building: our family.
In the coming weeks, we’ll cover building up our parish, local, and business communities.
IN TODAY’S ISSUE
News/Updates
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Heavenly Hustlers
Misc Resources
[read time: ~6 min | word count 1,343]
News / Updates
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The Theology of Community and How to Build it For Your Family (Part 1)
If we want to take the culture back for God, big solutions are important. But we should first look at the foundational solutions that we can all affect.
Society is built on the family. Period. The family is the first natural community — a direct reflection of the Holy Trinity. In the root of the word “community,” we find communion. A togetherness. A shared life.
But look around. Most of us in the US are living in a state of severe isolation. Depression is at an all-time high, and it’s no mystery why. Man is a social creature. We weren’t designed to grind in a vacuum. Our perfect “end state” is perfect communion with God and the Saints in heaven. If that’s the goal, we have to start practicing that rhythm here on earth.
As Catholic founders, we have a specific duty of stewardship. But where do we start?
It starts with your family.
This sounds obvious, but many of us get it backward. We treat our vocation to marriage as something we “fit in” around our career. That is a disordered life.
It’s not about a “magic number” of hours spent at home. It’s about building a life that allows you, your spouse, and your children to orbit your faith. God is at the center, you and the family are scheduling your entire week around The Faith.
Faith and family aren’t a ball you kick down the field every so often to feel like you’re making progress. They are the point.
The Strategy:
Witness to the ‘Forced’ Community: In a sense, God ‘forced’ your extended family into your life. You didn’t choose them, but you are called to minister to them. You don’t need to go to a foreign land to be a missionary — start with your cousins and siblings.
The point of this is to truly be there for your family. If you don’t know what is going on in their lives, how can you help them? If you don’t have a true connection, how will they feel comfortable coming to you in those times of need?
All of us have family who need to hear the Gospel — how do we expect to do that without even spending time with them?Cultivate Future Allies: Your job as a father isn’t an 18-year project. It’s a multi-generational legacy. You should be looking for other families who share your values now, so your children grow up surrounded by potential spouses and business partners who actually care about the Faith.
Some see this as cold-hearted and old school, but is it really? Or is it just common sense? What parent doesn’t want their children to be surrounded by others who will help them, inspire them, and above all, encourage them to live out their Faith?
Along these lines, check out this book, Leaving a Legacy. We recently interviewed the author.
Start This Week! (Challenge)
Look at your calendar. Do God and family get the ‘first fruits’ of your time? Or does your work force your family to ‘fit in?’ Pick one routine this week to move God and family back to the center. It can be something as small as an immovable block for morning prayer. Maybe you decide to listen to the readings of the day while sitting down with the family for breakfast.
There are plenty of things like this where you can show your priorities through your time. You show your love to God by doing this, and you show how to live to your children.
Next week, we’re going to talk about community building in our Parish and in our local community (town/city/neighborhood). Stay tuned for that.
Until then, God Bless & Happy Building
~Silas Mähner
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These are other Catholic business owners. Nominate one (including yourself).
🔍 Mark Evgenev is building Desync AI. A data extraction tool that can help you find values-aligned customers (among other things). I met Mark the other day, and one of his goals is to make people smile more. It’s simple but profound. He said our generation doesn’t smile enough, and I agree. Let’s all be more like Mark.
🤵♂️ Chris Cottrell is co-founder and CEO of Shepherd’s Clothing, as well as the owner and co-CEO of Rite-a-Way Garage Doors and Gates, and Managing Partner at Verde Peak Partners (buying small businesses in Arizona, responsibly). (Chris, if you’re reading this, let’s get you on the pod)
🤳 Seamus Harvey is an expert marketer and is also building a personal training biz on the side. Follow for inspo on how to market well.
✝️ Sean Murray is building Catholicsm Rocks (Catholic Stickers)
⚙️ Matthew Longo is building CRMs for Non-Profits.
🏘️ Daniel Egan (past pod guest) has been doing side hustles forever, but recently just set out on his own in earnest. He’s building a consulting firm for PE firms that roll up home services businesses. He’s also the creator of the Angelus Bell Chrome extension.
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Our episode with Johann Kurtz is still one of my favorites to date. Check it out if you care about Family Legacy at all. Perhaps you think we shouldn’t focus on it — all the more reason to hear a Catholic’s take on it.
A throwback: #17 with Marcellino D'Ambrosio on the moral importance of truth in marketing. Classic episode.
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