Comments on One Emergent Missional Journey: National Cohousing Conference

Thanks Brian. I know there are some Christian coho...

2009-07-02T17:53:21.433-06:00

Thanks Brian. I know there are some Christian cohousing communities (Bartimaeus for example, or of course the Catholic Worker communities) but I hear you about the "fundamentalist" problem. It's true that a lot of Christians are in fact intolerant, but then again there are a lot of Christians in general. I guess you get everything from Dick Cheney to Barack Obama, unfortunately.

Joshua, too bad I didn't know about you before I w...

2009-07-02T14:59:53.566-06:00

Joshua, too bad I didn't know about you before I went to Seattle - could have saved on a hotel :^)

I didn't meet anyone with a Christian missional focus. One of the things that interests me is that cohousing communities have many things in common with missional churches. Some of the same 'community glue' is present and required for either to work well. I have an unsubstantiated feeling that very few cohousing communities have committed Christian members. While they all value diversity, I see some minor evidence that Christians could be or are viewed as fundamentalists by cohousers. This is one of the main reasons I'm interested. I've been blessed to be in relation with many intelligent people who consider Christians to be 'nut jobs' and IMHO I've played a role to demonstrate that we are intelligent compassionate people. Besides - I like to be with other intelligent compassionate people and find them to be of many different faiths.

I wonder if Raines has any thoughts on the beliefs of cohousers?

Wow. I ran across your blog via a search for Shane...

2009-07-02T00:00:28.595-06:00

Wow. I ran across your blog via a search for Shane Claiborne's prayer, but we live in Seattle and I see you were just in my backyard! We--me, my wife, and two kids--are very interested in cohousing or intentional community living. Did you meet anyone else at the conference with a (Christian) missional focus?

Raines, Made a slight change to this post to clea...

2009-07-01T17:42:30.129-06:00

Raines,

Made a slight change to this post to clear things up and I agree with your view of the professional influences. The most energizing conversations were with the passionate people who are deeply involved and living in community. A few of the pros seem to be living in community so they can be in a better position to sell their services. This is not all bad, but IMHO they didn't express the passion that keeps a movement like this vibrant.

Brian, it sounds like you had as much fun at the c...

2009-07-01T12:55:48.973-06:00

Brian, it sounds like you had as much fun at the cohousing conference in Seattle last weekend as I did - but hopefully not as exhausting.

One small correction (I know the official wording was unclear, calling this the "first national annual conference"): there have been national cohousing conferences in the U.S. for decades - I've been participating as far back as 1999, and there was one in Seattle in 1997 - but this is the first annual one (following hot on the heels of last year's near Boston), rather than every 2-3 years.

I, too, was impressed by the speakers... but also felt frustrated, as this is a grassroots movement, in the process of making it more professional, predictable, repeatable, and managed, I think we have lost some of the spontaneity and opportunities for two-way peer-to-peer interaction that for me were a highlight of some past events. I'm looking forward to continuing the conversation in the year 'til the next conference in Boulder.

Raines Cohen, Cohousing Coach
Planning for Sustainable Communities
at Berkeley (CA) Cohousing