Intentional Communities (That Old Newness)

Acts 2:42-47

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Acts 4:32-35

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

You've probably heard the phrase, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need". It was a phrase popularized by Karl Marx, but the roots are right above in Acts 3:25. Both scripture summaries are a description of what the first Church looked like, brothers and sisters pooling their resources, living, praying, praising, eating and caring for each other.

I've been interested in intentional communities for a year or three now, ever since reading Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. It was first time I had been shown that not only were such communities possible, but that they existed now and were working and spreading.

Samantha (my girlfriend for all of you who don't know!) was having a conversation with her roommate Jessica and the subject of intentional communities came up somehow. Jessica mentioned that her professor from the prior semester had studied and observed intentional communities as a part of her doctorate. So I got in touch with her and had a chat with her. Part by convenience, and part by some subtle subconscious intelligence on my part, I brought Sam along. I'll tell you why my subconscious was so smart afterwards.

Professor Jade Aguilar was very, very nice and helpful. Off the bat she mentioned several sites for me to explore:
The Fellowship for Intentional Communities
The Federation of Egalitarian Communities and
Northwest Intentional Community Association

Even though the third site is technically part of the first, I wanted to note it separately. I was intrigued to notice that under their directory there are 74 communities in Oregon alone. This was perhaps what was most infectious for me, that there were so many communities out there. Sure, I'd probably not fit the mold for many of them--but Professor Aguilar pointed out that IC.org very neatly organizes the directory to your specifications: and there are quite a few "Christian" communities. I use quotes because, just clicking on a few of them to ones with at least a hundred, you can find communities from serious lutherans from to amish to folks "who are spiritually open to everything except Satanist" (that amused me). Needless to say there's a lot of diversity.

As we were talking I asked (I forget exactly how) about whether she met any anarchist, and she brightened up and noted that she had lived with both an anarchist community called Acorn, in the Virgina countryside and I think she observed (?) or knew of Emma Goldman's finishing school, in Seattle as well as another that I missed. Of Christian communities she had heard of Jesus People.

We talked to her for, forty minutes roughly. She described how there's different dynamics with different groups such as communities that are focused on being totally self-sustainable, like the Acorn who all work in the community job that involves packaging seeds. Another community, I think it was a vegan one, operated and worked in a tofu factory. She described how some communities are in the throes of trying to figure out where they fit in, in the greater context of society--like one feminists community.

I was really interested in how conflict is resolved. She mentioned that many of the communities used either/both group debriefings/counseling sessions and/or mediation. I liked that a lot. She also described how many of the communities try from the beginning to make sure your'e a "right fit" for the community. It makes sense that there should be an initiation process, especially since almost all communities revolve or are founded upon some sort of ideology, tenant or beliefs. For example, one community had everything in common. Any individual who joined would have to share everything they brought to the community. All clothes went into a common laundry pile for any and everyone to use.

That was about as far as we go. I knew I would have questions but couldn't think of them. This is where Sam comes in! She can be quicker than me when it comes to thinking up questions—here are some of hers:
1) Healthcare
Do people have individual healthcare plans, what about in communities where resources are shared?

2) Retirement
Some communities have been around since the '40s. Are there individuals who stay that long, and if so, is there some type of retirement care for them? Are they taken cared of, or are they forced to leave? This brought up the question of, do people ever join for life—or is it just a phase?

3) Contracts
This was pretty straightforward. Whenever you have such communities, one is bound to come into contact with serious followed. Sam wondered if there are ever situations where contracts are needed, to ensure that expectations or responsibilities are followed.

4) Transportation
Are there communal cars or vehicles? What about driving insurance and all that jazz?

5) Children
How does this work? This led into: How do families work? What do the dynamics look like?

All really good questions that I'm sharing with you all so that I might remember and look into in the future—AND—maybe intrigue you guys into some research and discussion of your own.

The slogan of the Federation of Egalitarian Communities (linked above a bit) is:
A new way of living is not only possible, it is happening now!

I quote it because it made me smile. It reminded me of the good news.

As Brian McClaren writes in his book Everything Must Change (I have yet to read, but just skimming it I feel like I'm already greatly familiar with the gist and spirit of it)...there's a lot that needs to be changed. -Obligatory "lol" here-

It's why it gives me such great inspiration and courage when I read about places like:
Dorothy's Place, in Salinas California. Having been around for 25 years. and communities that are connected through the The Simple Way that has, in conjunction with a bunch of other peeps created the Community of Communities, a map of markers.

One that note, I think I've about said my piece. In the book everything must change, McClaren discusses the need to address four crises: 1) environmental, the crisis of the planet 2) resources, the crisis of poverty 3) safety, the crisis of peace 4) spirituality, the crisis of purpose/story. I think building and becoming a part of intentional communities (with my bias towards ones that place an irreplaceable value on Jesus and God's good news--which is what I think communities are) is crucial to solving these problems.
Personally, I have some more ideas on what more can be done--in areas such as technology development and research. I'm becoming ever more aware, I feel of my own personal purpose. It's somewhere in this huge blog, slowly forming from words and ideas and heart.

In the future I'd like to talk about a couple of things: homosexuality and the church, assumptions on authority, one anarchist's 10 steps to destabilizing corruption. That's for starters.

Also please pray for my Aunt Jana, who was diagnosed with breast cancer today (Thursday, February 4th 2010). It's my families umpteenth cancer. Prayers for everyone would be blessed.

One of the reason I like Ghandi is because the guy had some really good quotes, like:
"We must become the change we want to see."

I think I'll end there.
Love,