We are walking and working towards Intentional Community Living. We unpack that phrase by explaining that Intentional indicates a conscious decision, a understanding of calling and gifting, and a commitment to carve time for shared life; Community indicates a desire to co-operate together, to practice deeper sharing and pooling of resources, being a blessing to the community around us, and an attitude of incarnational mission; and Living indicates an authentic commitment to the lifestyle a of a disciple (learning, being discipled, and a commitment to following the way of Jesus), a desire to be simple, and to learn contentment in our daily context.
We understand that this is a process as much as a promise. This manifesto states our goals, hopes, and dreams. We embrace those as God given, but we understand they are spoken with unclean lips, that we come from a people of unclean lips, and we understand that we must be willing to become. So we endeavor to be practical and patient. We promise to stretch but commit to honor the conscience and boundaries of every member of our community. We understand that when any of us is troubled or scared all of us have a duty to listen and respond. We are walking this path together, sometimes that means pausing to let some of the group catch up, sometimes that means taking a different path so that everyone can make it, and we hope it means that we all get father then we could ever imagine on our own.
As a Intentional Living Community we value:
- Community - We desire to be one, to live together and to live our lives together. We seek to understand our faith, our language of/for God (theology), our purpose, and our actions in light of our communal life. We desire to be a family where each of us speaks God’s words to each other, and it is in the sharing of words that we hear The Word that gives life.
- Hospitality - our orientation is focused on those outside our immediate family. We hope to a place where “the other” is welcomed and embraced.
- Sharing - we seek to embrace the model of the church in Acts “That shared with each according to their need.” We seek to know the needs of our community (corporate and neighborhood) and to commit to meeting those needs together.
- Building and Releasing - We are not seeking to become a massive group. We understand that a central part of the christian life is choosing to bear fruit instead of grow. We hope our community will be formative: shaping, training, and informing others and then that it will help sow them all over. We embrace our own transience and the fact that one day this community may be no more. We are not seeking to build monuments or institutions but to impact lives.
- Food - we enjoy eating together. We want part of our identity as a community to be centered around the table and around Christ’s table.
The common, driving force underneath all of these goals is our desire to live lifes of love that reflect the love of God shown us in the life, death, and resurection of Jesus Christ. Our understanding of community begins and ends in our understanding of the Body of Christ. Our understanding of hospitality flows from the example of love Jesus showed to the widow, the gentile, the sick, and the lepper. Our understanding of sharing flows from the example of love that Jesus showed when he gave everything, even his life, for us. Our understanding of discipleship flows from the example of Jesus who trained, nurtured, confused, and sent his disciples out into all the corners of the earth.
We believe that the life of love we are called to is distinct from the “American Dream” or the “American way of Life” we feel called to offer an alternative to the dominant meta-narratives of the age. In doing so we hope to be good news. Good news to the afflicted who see the liberating heart the christian message as Words of hope. Good news to Christians of all stripes who find themselves malnourished by the gospel of cheap grace and the expensive life of consumtion. Good news to the prophets of despair who cannot see past the declining attendance, prominence, and influence of modern churches in this post-modern age.
We are excited about where this journey together will take us, joyful that God has brought us into each others lives, and hopeful that the kingdom of God is at hand.