community and consistency

A friend recently asked me:

What are your thoughts on the relationship between community and consistency? Do you think a community can exist without consistency? Eg: consistency in showing up, or having a consistent role/personality

I'm pretty sure that most people define community in a way that involves some amount of consistency. I've seen communities centered around locations (physical or digital), shared interests or goals, and specific people that show up regularly -- not always all three, but often, and it's hard for me to imagine a community that doesn't involve at least some consistency in the people who show up.

But how much consistency is required for a feeling of community? Especially in the Bay Area, venues are regularly opening and closing and people often move away or move onto other interests. I can think of several communities I'm connected to that have changed:

I moved into a new community house 1.5 years ago, and over half of the people who originally moved with me have since moved out. The group of people I live with has changed, but the overall vision for the house is largely the same. We share a lot of the same goals and norms, but also regularly make small changes to house systems and culture (which I like).
The local kink scene that I interact with includes some people that have been involved in similar ways for years, and also dozens of people that come through and attend a few events and then move their focus elsewhere. Some groups and individuals step up and step back from hosting events, while some educators and venues stay open for a long time. The vibe feels very stable, even though the specifics change regularly.
I attend Food Not Bombs regularly, and recently someone has been upset about organizers spending money to buy materials (food, water bottles, hand warmers) from corporations. Part of why they're upset is that the Food Not Bombs movement originally dumpster dived and got their materials in whatever ways they could for free. The current iteration of SF FNB takes donations from Quakers and spends it on resources it wouldn't be able to get otherwise, and this person feels like giving money to corporations is too much of a change from the organization's original mission.

It seems pretty impossible for a community to not change at all over time. I've been thinking lately about what sort of stability I'm looking for in community. I enjoy short-term experiences of community where I see people regularly or come together with them to make something happen. But what I'm really interested in right now is long-term community. I don't know how much change, or what measures of change (how many people leaving, how much the activities change, etc), would lead to a feeling of instability for me. But I do think it's important to me to build relationships and/or commitments to shared projects or interests, and to continue to invest in those over years and years.