As traditional religious communities have declined for many people, the belonging they provided has not automatically been replaced — and the secular world has not yet built adequate substitutes for the weekly gathering, the shared ritual, the cradle-to-grave community of care. This is one of the more honest problems of secular modernity: acknowledging what was lost along with what was rightly rejected. Finding or building secular community that meets these needs is serious, necessary work.
Each step builds on the last.