Anglican Community Project

Writing in Touchstone magazine, Eric Miller says: And what of the old "Christian" West? Maybe, in God's providence, it was time for it to recede. Like a college, a civilization that fails to incarnate many of the chief ideals it has championed deserves, if not ridicule, at least a stern rebuke and a sober exit. Maybe instead of fighting so hard to preserve a dying civilization, people of Christian faith should allow the most noble ideals and practices of our Western heritage to call into existence a new people, one that more faithfully adheres to that timeless vision of the good life the West at its best conserved, a people that will begin this time with a markedly improved awareness of the worth of each particular creature of God, and, indeed, of the inestimable worth of the entire creation. This is another call to thick community, to a new way of living rooted lives, to striking out against our current atomized way of life.

Here is one high-end approach to creating an intentional community in our day: Ave Maria and here's a video of the area: video

I don’t need to outline the pain that the price of gas is inflicting on us all. It is an albatross around the collective neck of our country. When you live in the exurbs like I do, you drive a lot. I drive an hour to work and an hour-twenty to church at 85 mph. I would never choose to live like this, but it is something of a lack of foresight on my part, and something of a lack of financial possibilities. I have a feeling that many people are absolutely sick of living in this manner. Now, there is also a large sector of the population that thinks the American dream is living on as many acres as possible, as far away from people as possible, in the biggest home that is possible. I think there is a change in the air, indeed upon us, but it will take decades to work itself out. One large factor in my thinking is the definition of the good life, as posited by Aristotle, Aquinas and the Christian tradition. Philip Bess sums up the tradition on the good life: ...the good life for individual ...

This story from yesterday is another sign to me that the ideas of shared community - not as just a concept but as a concrete reality - are catching on: Cohousing The idea in play here is discussed from a secular angle, but still has merit. It includes: 1. Participatory process. 2. Neighborhood design. 3. Common facilities. 4. Resident management. 5. Non-hierarchical structure and decision-making. 6. No shared community economy. I'd like to interact with some of these ideas as I have more time. But this is at the heart of what I see as gathered communities heading into a new Dark Age. These communities would serve as bastions to preserve Biblical learning, the best of Western culture, and a rich and winsome Christian fellowship, with all that it implies.

It was the beginning of Lent (2008) and I was walking out of a beautiful Roman Catholic retreat center, talking with a dear friend from our beloved church . We were talking about our parish life, especially our rhythm of seasonal retreats (like that very one), practicing the spiritual disciplines together. We were rejoicing in the community Christ is building in our midst and out of us. And on the grounds of this serene retreat center, our unity in Christ seemed more palpable than ever. Like many in our church, and like my wife and I were until deep into our thirties, this friend is single. Singleness has its rewards, no doubt. I could not have gone to grad school in Europe for as long as I did (won't say how long!), and could not have taken quite the cultural education in languages and travel that I did, were I not free-wheeling it. But singleness is difficult, too. I struggled with loneliness and felt forced to forge communal ties on my own, sometimes without much reciproc...

I have a vision for an intentionally Anglican community, that is, a town or urban area where Anglican deliberately move to coalesce around a parish and influence the geographical area around them. Such a community would have to reflect the Anglican way. What is the Anglican way? It is difficult to say after a century or more of muddle and confusion. However, some core elements of what I see as the Anglican life would include:  1. The parish being at the center of life. This means both literally and figuratively. Ideally, an Anglican town would have the parish building somewhere in the center of the physical location. Also, life would rotate around worship and interaction at the parish building, and in homes. If the community grew sufficiently, I envision several parishes of a couple hundred people all within the same town. Perhaps a central cathedral could be build for large gatherings of the saints.  2. Daily worship. The church doors should be open all day every day for the ...