September Gathering of Communities

Hello Community of Communities,

My name is Chantilly Mers, the Community Arts Coordinator at Metro Hope Church (metrohopenyc.org).  I am also a member of an intentional community called Hope House (71 E. 119th St), where six people from our faith community have decided to move into the neighborhood of which we worship, East Harlem.  With Christ at the heart of what we do, Metro believes in nurturing and seeking shalom in our neighborhood through holistic participation.  We want to be a part of our neighborhood.  We also seek to participate by contributing to its health and wholeness.

There’s more to tell in the last year we’ve been on 119th St, but that’s enough about us.  We want to get to know you and what you’re about!

So we’re opening up our home (located 71 E. 119th St. between Madison and Park), to host the next Community of Community’s gathering set for September 3rd., 11:30a-3pm.

As usual, come bringing a dish to share and be ready to pray, sing, and play some games.  If you’re interested in taking part in shaping the liturgy I would love your ideas!  I’ll be crafting the worship and liturgy at some point on August 24th.  Go ahead and email me your ideas, songs and prayers from your community’s repertoire!

Looking forward to communing together…

blessings,

Chantilly

Spring Gathering of NYC Communities!

Friends and Fellow Communitarians,

Spring, the season of new life and rebirth, is upon us! And with spring comes the NYC Community of Communities Spring Celebration! This gathering is an opportunity for the collective of Christian communities in NYC to deepen inter-community relationships and plot ways to usher in the Kingdom of God. All are invited!

We will gather on the lawn just south of the Cloisters Museum in Fort Tryon Park at 1pm for a drum circle, followed by the Liturgy of the Beloved Community, and a picnic. Each community should bring enough food for themselves, and maybe something extra to share, as well as a drum or other musical instrument. After the gathering we can visit the Cloisters!

Vitals
When: Saturday, April 30th, 1-4pm
Where: We will meet on the lawn just south of the Cloisters Museum in Fort Tryon Park. The address is 99 Margaret Corbin Drive; and is located just north of the 190th Street Station on the A train.

Peace!
Jason
(for more info, email gather@radicallivingnyc.com)

LentNYC: Lament, Repent and Re-Imagine!

Over the last few years, many people have participated in the NYC Community of Communities gatherings. These gatherings have been an excellent opportunity to fellowship, share skills, and strengthen the body of Christ in NYC. As we approach Lent, a cluster of us who live in Christian community have been imagining what it might look like if Christ’s followers in all five boroughs had a common vision for the City and, in particular, what it might look like if we committed to prayer, fasting and repentance, as well as acts of charity and justice during the season of Lent (March 9 – April 23).

On February 15th, representatives from various communities, churches and faith groups met at the Christian Herald Association in Midtown to cast a Lenten vision for NYC. On March 9th (Ash Wednesday) we enter into that vision.

Beholding a common vision for the City, we, as followers of Christ representing the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island – commit to prayer, fasting and repentance, as well as acts of charity and justice during Lent. Each week of Lent we commit to learning about an important issue that affects our City, praying and reflecting on that issue in light of the Scriptures, and then acting on that issue through either a volunteer or activist project. Some of the issues we will pray and fast over include Poverty, Human Trafficking, Immigration, Education and Housing.

If you want to join us in the collective vision for NYC, send an email to jason@radicallivingnyc.com to request a Lenten Guide. The Guides were made for this particular Lent by New Yorkers who are working to address the issues that afflict our City – and to make a way for the Kingdom of God to enter in.

 

Spring Celebration

Friends and Fellow Communitarians,

Spring, the season of new life and rebirth, is upon us! And with spring comes the NYC Community of Communities Spring Celebration! This is our 5th quarterly gathering and, since four quarters makes a whole, our collective of Christian communities is truly entering a new season of deepening inter-community relationships and plotting ways to usher in the Kingdom of God.

A large portion of the past gatherings has always included a time for skill-sharing (e.g., communal economics, conflict resolution, radical hospitality, etc.) and, while skill-sharing will continue to be a vital component of our future gatherings, we have decided to use the spring gathering as a time to celebrate the beauty and mystery of Christian community, and to renew ourselves through music, festivities (i.e., a game!), fellowship, liturgy and communion.

We will celebrate the Liturgy of the Beloved Community, which was created by members of Mustard Seed House (Seattle) and Radical Living (Brooklyn). The liturgy will culminate in Holy Communion. After the gathering we can visit the Cloisters!

Vitals
When: Saturday, May 1st, 1-4pm
Where: We will meet on the lawn just south of the Cloisters Museum in Fort Tryon Park. The address is 99 Margaret Corbin Drive; and is located just north of the 190th Street Station on the A train.

Important links:
The gathering’s Facebook Event Page
NYC Community of Communities
The Cloisters

Peace and grace!

Jason Storbakken (Radical Living)

Friends and fellow Communitarians!

On the afternoon of Saturday, November 21st, about a dozen Christian intentional communities from throughout New York City and Long island gathered at Judson Memorial Church for the fourth (quarterly) Gathering of Communities. Some of the communities represented included Catholic Worker, Harlem House (née Bruderhof), Banner House, Radical Living, Whole House, Menno House, Harlem Girls, and several others.

The gathering opened with a potluck and time for fellowship, followed by individual and community intros. Each person answered one of three questions:

1. How do you/your community do Sabbath?
2. How does your community do hospitality?
3. What issue(s) is your community wrestling with?

Every response shared drew us into greater solidarity, and helped us to realize that, although each community has its own distinct identity, we all encounter and wrestle with similar themes and issues. After intros we broke into small groups to discuss various topics, including: radical hospitality, community organizing, youth justice, and communal ways to respond to poverty. After the discussion each group prayed for one another and for ways to grow in understanding and application regarding the topic addressed. Concluding the small group discussion, one person from each group shared with the larger group about the topic discussed.

The gathering was a great time of deepening inter-community relationships, skill-sharing, and prayer. Thanks to each person and community that made it possible, and a special thanks to the folks at Banner House, Harlem Girls, Harlem House and Radical Living for collectively organizing the event. Make sure to check out the NYC Community of Communities website and our online calendar. If you have something to share, send it this way. Also, we need more administrators for the website and calendar. If you are tech savvy, or simply have time and interest, give me a holler, and you can be added.Thanks again for your love and fellowship!

In Christ,

Jason (Radical Living)

Gathering of Communities IV

The Gathering of Communities IV will be Saturday, November 21, from noon to 4pm at Judson Memorial Church near Washington Square in the West Village. Please come to discuss, meet others and get involved with groups of people who are living in community in New York City and nearby.

Visioning Session

All of the communities that have participated at the quarterly gathering of communities were recently invited to send a rep(s) from there community to a NYC Community of Communities Visioning Session.

Half a dozen communities (Menno House, Harlem Girls, Whole House, Radical Living, the Bruderhof-Harlem House, and the Palma Boys) were represented at the Visioning Session, which took place Friday, June 26th at Menno House.

At the Visioning Session we discussed 1) Inter-community Networking and Fellowship, 2) Training/Teaching opportunities, and 3) Advocacy and Volunteering. The full notes from this meeting were sent to the communities. Please pray that the Spirit continues to lead this movement.

Banner House-Service Project

The NYC Community of Communities  is partnering with the Banner House community in Long Island to serve the community they live in. This is also a great opportunity to spend quality time together. Let’s make a day of it! You’re of course welcome to come late or leave early if need be. Here’s the link to the Facebook event’s page.

Schedule:

10:00 a.m. Meet at Penn Station to depart on LIRR for Long Beach (departs at 10:22)
(People coming from Brooklyn might want to get the train at Jamaica)
11:08 a.m. Arrive at Long Beach
11:30 a.m. Start community clean up service project
1:30 or so Lunch
3:00 p.m. Hang out in Long Beach
5:00 p.m. Bon Fire on the beach
8:00 p.m. Return

The first steps

The NYC Community of communities gatherings, organized by Amy Stabeno of the Harlem Girls, have met three times over the last year. We have fellowshipped, broken bread, prayed, and shared stories.

At the recent Spring gathering at All Angels we discussed ways to go deeper as a Community (with a big “C”). We talked about organizing as a collective so that our presence (i.e., social witness) will be felt not just in our neighborhoods, apartment buildings and brownstone homes, but on the streets and in the subways, in the shelters and city hall, and even in the churches and places where we worship.

This site and our ONLINE CALENDAR are meant to help us as we begin to organize our efforts to find new ways to support one another as we participate in the movement of God’s Spirit!