House's Who We Are

***Before I get any more scolding comments I thought I'd clarify that the following statements are the result of a long and prayerful effort to be as honest as possible about the characteristics of the group of people who have gathered together over the last 9 months to do the initial work around developing a new worshiping community.  Rather than compiling a list of who we wish we were, or who we ideally think we are, we chose to just stick with who we and our friends and partners really are (hopefully with a modicum of humility around the fact that we can't do this perfectly).  Worshiping communities, despite what most would say are niche groups.  We are admitting we too are niche.  We are not trying to be all things to all people, but we are located in a very particular cultural context in which we seek to create a Word and Sacrament community.  My friend David put it like this: "Look at Chipotle.  They are really clear about who they are and what they do; Burritos.  They are not going to start cooking burgers, but are burger eaters welcome there? Absolutely."  We also are seriously aware of our need to be in relationship with "the other" whether that be more conservative Christians, people of color, those less fortunate, those more fortunate etc.  To that end we are guests in a space which is the 4 Winds Cultural Survival Project - A Native American community center.  In a meeting with some of the leadership of 4 Winds we told them of this document that we created saying who we are and they were impressed that we would be honest enough to admit that we are White.  We hope to be their allies and perhaps even friends.  We also are seeking out prayer partner relationships with close-by worshiping communities regardless of how similar or not we are theologically or culturally, acknowledging our need to be transformed by contact.  And yes, we get the irony of having a particular population in a House for All.

This describes who we are right now.  It does not describe who is welcome.  We wish to welcome all.

Who are we, and for whom do we do this work?

We are people who went to church once and are now Evangelical refugees.

We are people who never stopped going to church, yet are seeking a community that provides a different level of engagement.

We are youngish and adultish.

We resonate more with the mystical and contemplative than the obvious and simplistic.

We work in non-profits (and non-prophets), we are graduate students, social workers and young professionals.

We participate in virtual culture and are tech savvy enough to realize that we are not actually.

We are artists, who mediate progressive culture outside the mainstream.

We are post-modern urban dwellers who are delighted to not live close to such things as “Applebees”.

We are terminally ironic, white, and educated.

We are the injured who are striving to be self-aware; struggle is an almost constant.

Our cynicism can sometimes just be masking our confusion and vulnerability.

Our idealism is based in the trust that transformation is possible in the individual, the church and the whole world.

We are queer.

Some have children, some live alone, some are alone, some are partnered.

We tend to over-think things because we’re geeky and analytical.

Some of us are rooted here, but most are somewhat transient.

We are friends and allies of all the above.

Comments

[Bob]

So not really a "house for all"

[Shalom]

What a great, honest list. You have to know who you are before you can extend a welcome with integrity, I think.

[Brian]

You might like this site:
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/
I find it really funny and pretty accurate. I sometimes bow my head in shame :)

[Nadia]

Yeah, that site is terrifyingly accurate. I love the one about how white people like to brag about living in bad neighborhoods. Ouch, convicted. Also the bit on water bottles was hysterical.

[Ryan Torma]

Bravo for making the effort to know thyself. Hopefully it will give you courage to greet people who are different from you with openness, hospitality, and wonder.

May your understanding of who you are now not blind you from who you may become.

Blessings in your beginnings and journeys.