catapult magazine

In the music section Grant and mwooten have been mentioning coops and group arrangements to support Christian musicians and other artists. This seems like a great idea with implications that extend far beyond just the arts. I realize that BBC splits a house between his and one other family. Does anybody else have experience in living inside a fundamentally different family or social environment specifically geared toward Christian/stewardly living?
I, and likely most other Dordt people, had an interesting PoliSci prof (Don King) who at one time lived in a Christian commune in…upstate New York I think. I regret never learning more about his experiences.

Hi, my name is Mike. I don’t have long to respond at the moment but I live in a house church community in the Atlanta, GA. area. We don’t live in common but most of us live in the same neighborhood. Our church site is http://www.atlantachristians.com
Another good resource is my friend Neil’s website—http://www.christinyall.com
I’ll try to stay up on this conversation. I’m fairly opiniated about community, have experienced a little of it, and study it historically like a geek. Please, stay in touch.

yours,

zoecarnate

I just came across this discussion line from December and wish someone would relay some more of their experiences.
It’s interesting because I’ve been thinking/wondering along these lines the past week or so.
How possible is it?
What happens with individual’s investments?
If property is owned together how does that work?
I have a single/parent/handicapped friend with children who will be at the end of her resources sooner than later and my revolutionary thought as a newly singled parent is that it would make sense to work on a solution together.
My only hangup is my upbringing…totally self-reliant, pioneer stock, germanic, individualistic white/middleclass, privacy priority, space…..you get the picture.
I’m ready to think outside the box though!
Any thoughts?

Thanks Grant. Absolutely on the communication! I lived ‘communally’ in a bachelor pad my first summer of marriage…we had the attic floor…main level had 3 other guys. We did okay…I wasn’t expected to do the cooking cleaning just because I was the woman…we all participated. I too look back on it fondly.
My mind kind of mulled over this today in-between tax prep, laundry, and housecleaning…wondering what it would be like to have someone with resources to purchase land/development area here in the city for the express purpose of developing a community…not sure what the community’s structure would be…right now am thinking along the lines of single adults with/without children…Christian…hmmm.
I guess I need to do some internet research to see what’s been/is being done out there and commit the idea to prayer.

Do any Dordt people out there know of Professor King’s (Poli Sci guy) history? I know that he mentioned in class, kind of in passing, about living in upstate New York or Pennsylvania maybe, on a Christian commune. When he entered all worldly things became tools and objects the commune could use.
I hope I’m not making this up. I’m certain he would have some interesting insight. Is he still at dordt Jason?

I think it sounds like a great idea to try to work together with this friend.

My own experience with community living was in less than ideal circumstances. It was my first year of marriage and we were living with all single folk (which is good, because we love single folk, but was also difficult because my wife didn’t know these people very well at first). We had more and more people coming in to live there to the point of having seven people in this two bedroom apartment.

People felt very crowded and we didn’t have the structural foundation to make things run smoothly enough. We also didn’t have a common purpose, which I think is very helpful for a group living situation, even if it only means raising a family (which is a big purpose in and of itself). But I look back on those days very fondly and feel as close to many of them as to my own family, which is a definite blessing that often comes with such a living arrangement.

My suggestion, if you are going to do something like this, is to talk everything out. Communicate constantly with eachother about how to design the structure of the situation so that problems can be avoided. Maintain a trusting atmosphere so everyone knows that Johnny really meant to clean that dish; his neglegence is not a personal attack against the harmony of the house; he just forgot this time.

norbert how do you find time to reply to this ste so much?

maybe instead of running your fingers over the keyboard you would be better served running them over your obviously neglected wife???

Ricky, wow. HUGE burn.

how do people on this site find so much time to write so much blither….
i’ll bet they weren’t spanked when they were little…especially that norbert character…
he is obviously a single child whose parents were not available to him intellectually….i mean look at the shit he puts out in this site…..hey macho comacho! try talking to your wife about all this crap instead of typing it into a computer so a bunch of loser-ass nobodys can respond……brutal…..