I will preface this by saying it may not make sense to everyone who reads this blog - and I hope not to alienate anyone - this is just a personal musing.
I will be starting seminary in September - do I plan on becoming a pastor - no, however, if I am being truthful with myself, it is something I would love to do in some format. I have a vision of a community home in a lower socio-economic area and having it be an open place for a meal, help with school and a place of safety and community. A safe place is something that I know personally is so rare in this world. A place where children and adult can know peace and love and practical help. I am not the originator of this concept, they're actually in most major cities - neo-monastic homes where people work to daily serve their communities on a practical format. If you're interested I can give more info - but it isn't the point of the blog.
When I sat down with my mentor/pastor this week, we came back to this, and the feeling that I need to/want to pursue this - that this despite the gaps between here and there. I had that feeling again this morning. A direct challenge to see what I refuse to see and deny what I want to see - what I want. I am struggling against a future I do not know. A future that in moments seems so very clear and then I'm enveloped in the clouds.
There is a hymn we sang today that I keep coming back to and a reminder, a voice if you will, that came to me while I was out at what felt like an un-godly hour with N running. Your beauty, your worth to Me, is more than what you see, is that not enough to follow and fill you. *Sigh*
never knew that about you.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome!
Ever considered volunteering? Might be a nice place to start to give you a solid reference point. I'm sure your mentor can point you in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteNice vision. Keep it going =)
@JS - Thanks - and thanks for your support.
ReplyDelete@TOITB - I have considered volunteering in a community like that - most require an internship of 6 months or longer, which I might be interested at sometime, right now I just cannot see how selling everything and raising funds to do a 6 month plus internship is the best direction at the moment
I have some friends who started a house like this in New Orleans almost two years ago. As a class project last Spring, I did an ethnography on them and what they were accomplishing in the first year. In the process, I chronicled the time I spent there, the people I met, and other people who passed through that I missed (contacted by email/FaceBook).
ReplyDeleteIf nothing else, I want to give you a few brief pointers:
1. Just because you feel a desire to do this doesn't mean "you have to jump on it because you're burnin' daylight." They bought a house in the French Quarter for a reasonable price, but quickly found out it was cheap for a reason. One girl lasted only a month or two because she didn't consider the effects of the heat on herself or her son.
2. Really consider what you're getting yourself into. One person wrote about how they had 20-30 people sleeping wherever they could fit and how that made her want to do nothing more than kick everybody out and shut herself in. If you've never lived in this type of environment before, you're carrying baggage from the way you've always lived.
3. If you're planning a brand new community, consider how you'll have everything structured, how things will get paid, etc. It's nice to have a safety net if one member of the house loses a job, but how will you pay the bills if all but one member loses their job? Most importantly, someone has to be in charge. Heavy heavy heavy emphasis on that one. And by being in charge, I mean they take responsibility when something goes wrong.
Those are the three major life lessons I learned out of that. Hope that helps, and lemme know if you wanna read it (came out to about 20 pages, single-spaced, with pictures!)
Okay so to give you a break down response:
ReplyDelete1 and 2. I guess I should have been more clear of what has been on my heart/mind and who it would be model after in theory. Church of the Good Shepard started a community church long before it was in vogue. Their structure, though I prefer the concept that friends of mine have opted to do, which is not to necessarily have others live with you but rather use your home space as a meeting place for the community - an open door policy with meals, after school space, garden etc. For me I think this is a good balance for all that are involved.
3. I wouldn't be starting any community regardless of what it becomes alone - there would be church involvement, there would support from other neo-monastic groups - an intentional community is in many ways no different from a church plant, you cannot just plop down and go it alone.
Yes you do need a plan, a financial plan and an understanding of what you can offer and what you cannot - it may happen that you can offer more in the future, but you cannot be all things to all people.
That makes plenty of sense. With that kind of plan, you've got the option of shutting the door more often when it's necessary. If that's the case, then I just suggest starting one thing at a time and being able to do it well before moving on to the next thing. It's too easy to start lots of things and have that overwhelm you to the point of not doing anything well.
ReplyDelete