What is a church community?

As part of a recent church consultation in the North Road area, I discovered that one of the churches had originally been built to serve a new housing development which was to be built behind the current bus station. This the church did for many years. In recent years though, the housing is predominantly student lets and therefore the community around the church has changed. The church still work hard at trying to engage with the community but they are aware that the community chages everyday. Most of the congregation on a Sunday travel in by car or bus and therefore do not live in the housing around the church. During the consultation one of the gentlemen talked about how difficult it was to serve such a changeable community. Village chapels have a relatively stable community where people will tend to come to special events and services even if they do not come to Sunday worship regularly. In an area where many people are just passing through on their way to work or for shopping this is much more difficult. How can we develop a sense of community in a physical location under such conditions? And how can a church community do mission in such a transient community? These are real challenges in North Road and may require some quie radical thinking.