Intentional Community

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Comment by Rebecca Olson on July 10, 2008 at 11:32am

I think that the very fact that we need to live intentionally indicates that it is not our first instinct to do so. We must intentionally put others before ourselves. We must intentionally make choices to beneift the group rather than the self. We must intentionally go beyond our comfort level and step-up to meet peoples needs. To be in an intentional community for me is to be in a support group with like-minded individuals headed in the same direction and the group serving each other and others as selflessly as possible.

Comment by abigail mcphearson on July 9, 2008 at 6:26pm

well, from my experience in living in intentional community, "intentional" living with other persons means as much as you make it to mean. you can go as deep as you want, or you can choose to be intentional about only a few areas of your lives together. share meals together daily; get up before the first person has to leave in the mornings and make breakfast; have house meetings weekly to discuss each of your joys and your struggles of that week, what the LORD has spoken into your life during the days, and check up on business of the house's matters; writes encouraging notes to your housemates; make yourself vulnerable so that your housemates can know who You really are; have grace and learn how to truly Love. each community is made up of many different members, so each community will surely have different meanings of the word "intentional".

Comment by Becky Crook on July 7, 2008 at 11:20am

My initial question is: what does it mean to be "intentional." ? How does a community jointly come up with what that means (because it seems like there could be several meanings of intentional)?

Comment by Pat Loughery on July 5, 2008 at 7:49pm

Fantastic, I look forward to the conversation.

As to my own context, I am in a small town/bedroom commuter community east of Seattle 30 miles. I am very interested in intentional community that's not living under the same roof. I'm also captured by Celtic monasticism (and Celtic spirituality in general), and am exploring a Way of Life based on the Community of Aidan and Hilda's structure.