Why Live in Community // Adventure in Togetherness

Greetings! This is Amber here and Bethany has asked me to do a guest blog post for her for some reason. She is pretty cool like that. Just a little background on me – I currently live in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania with my handsome husband Jay (who is also guest blogged) and three other couples in a huge house. That’s right, there are eight of us sharing life together in the same house. Does that sound crazy to you? Well, let me explain why we do it.

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Experiences in Community

Let’s begin with our experiences of living in community with other people. Both of us have had many positive experiences living with other people, and our fair share of challenges. We both lived in the dorms of Missouri State University for at least a year. 

My most significant adventure with community happened my junior year. I moved once again to a bigger house that was more inviting to community than the small apartment. I lived with my sister Emily and two other girls who challenged and sharpened me. The house, which we affectionately call “Florida” for the street that it was on, quickly became a place of refuge, good times, and deep conversations. There were often times when people just wanted to hang out somewhere, so they came to Florida for hot chocolate and board games. Florida is where three of us realized that we were going to marry our wonderful husbands. 

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For the first time, I felt like I was able to use my home as a ministry and that is because of the community that existed inside the walls of that house. We challenged one another and spurred one another on towards love and good deeds. There is a Proverb that says “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” That is what Florida did for me. It sharpened me and I like to think that it sharpened the other three girls as well. Going home to people who love you and want to challenge you to become the person God has designed you to be was a constant source of growth spiritually.

Ever since my time in Florida, I have been hungry for community. I have lived with an incredible family from my church, my sweet oldest sister and now I live with my beloved whom I married about two ago. All three of those living arrangements have been wonderful and blessed. However, they lacked community that Florida had. They lacked the iron sharpening iron.

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Benefits of Community Dwelling

The apostles in Acts were of “one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. There was not a needy person among them.” (Acts 4:32 & 34) Jay and I feel like that is the best way to live our lives. To be of one accord and share your possessions with those who are in need and with brothers and sisters in the Lord. You may say that you can be in one accord with just a husband and wife, and we completely agree. However, for us, we choose to live in harmony with multiple people from different backgrounds with different gifts.

Another benefit of community has little to do with faith. It is simply a bonus benefit of community dwellers. It seems easier to live an “organic life” in community. What I mean by that, is it is easier to grow your own garden and make your own clothes and live off the natural goodness of the Lord through relying on other people. Putting a range of people together under one roof is like taking a cornucopia of skills and talents and putting them together to work toward a common goal. It is more effective to work together to make that happen.

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We don’t live in community so that it can change us into people that we are not. We desire community so that we can change the world to bridge the gap between what is and what should be. We don’t want to live in community because it is easier. We desire community because it is challenging. We don’t want to live in community to avoid the church. We desire community because we are the church. We don’t want to live in community simply because it is permissible. We desire community because it is beneficial. We don’t want to live in community to escape any person or thing. Will you join us?

If you want to learn more about our community or would like to read more about our adventures, check

out our blog at www.jayandamber.wordpress.com.

Jay and Amber's Community

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Jay Howard on Community

Hi everybody! First, thank you Bethany for inviting me to write a guest post for your super-cool blog. My focus in this post will be on the last part of the coffeeculturecommunity triad. (The only part I know anything about!) Specifically, I would like to talk a little about what I have learned from this of year living in an intentional community.

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First, Some Background

I recently graduated from college and got married. Then, motivated by a vague-but-persistent interest in “togetherness,” Amber and I decided that we wanted learn a little bit about intentional communities. To accomplish this goal, we moved to Pittsburgh, PA where a brand new intentional community called Formation House was just starting up. We have lived here almost a year.

“What is an intentional community,” you ask?

In the most basic terms, an intentional community is a planned residential community designed to have a higher degree of teamwork than other communities. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common vision, and they typically also share responsibilities and resources.

This year has been about fleshing out the details of what that means. As we have journeyed through this year we have found that living in intentional community is pretty darn cool. Formation House is a one year program, and because we have enjoyed this year so much Amber and I are already exploring ways to continue incorporating the practice of community into our lives in the future. Here in Pittsburgh we have forged close friendships, learned best-practices for community life, and eaten a lot of awesome, home-cooked meals.

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Charisms and Focus

One of the things I have learned this year is that different communities have different focuses, or “charisms” as they are called. (http://www.mattpritchard.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Charisms.pdf) Examples of charisms in intentional communities are:

meals together
self-sufficiency
voluntary simplicity
interpersonal growth
egalitarian values
prayer or spirituality

Many communities make the mistake of biting off more than they can chew.

It is common at the beginning stages to say, “Let’s pray together every night, eat breakfast together, plant a garden, get involved with the local church, practice hospitality with all our neighbors, build a park in the vacant lot across from our house, and raise chickens!”

Nobody thinks about cleaning the bathroom. But trust me, it will come up! People who are older and wiser than me recommend “doing one thing well,” and then adding more stuff after the community has established some norms.

Formation House was created to be a training ground for how to do intentional community. I would say
Formation House has three charisms.

We eat meals together 5 nights a week,
we pray together 5 nights a week, and
we meet roughly once a week to go over a curriculum which focuses on interpersonal growth.

By “interpersonal growth” I mean communication, listening skills, conflict resolution, leadership, group decision making. That sort of thing.

Those three things keep is pretty busy as a community because all three call for a good chunk of time and effort. But we still have plenty of time to do other things. For example, we each work full time. And we each have our own personal interests and hobbies.

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Skill Sharing

A big part of the fun of this year has been sharing our hobbies and interests with each other. We have quite an assortment of fun occupations between the eight of us. Some examples:

Gardening
Bee Keeping
Bird Watching
Chess
Sewing
Home Brewing
Accounting
Painting
Yoga
Bicycle Co-Op
Crocheting
Taking care of/playing with a golden retreater
Watching the science fiction television show Firefly

When eight people share their lives together, there is almost always going to be somebody around who is interested in what you are interested in. How awesome is that? When I get share my enthusiasm for chess, for example, or when somebody takes me bird watching for the first time, it is rewarding for everyone involved.

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Further Reading

In conclusion, I still have a lot to learn about community. That said, if you have any questions or are interested in reading more about community, check out my and Amber’s blog, Adventures in Togetherness, or email me at jayhoward1ATgmailDOTcom. I would love to hear from you. Thank you for reading my post about intentional community.

Disclaimer: The chipmunks have no significance. :) Pin It

The City with a Front Door

I had the most lovely adventure over Spring break with Jay & Amber.

It was a perfect blend of coffee, culture, & community.
To start off where I left off,
We ventured out to Oakland for lunch!

At Oakland, we had the "ultimate Pittsburgh experience" at Primanti Bros.

These sandwiches included every side item on the sandwich for easy eating without a lunch break for people like truck drivers, sailors, & miners.

It was an experience.

Also, on a coffee note, we visited Ryan at the Starbucks where he works, and I got an epic Pittsburgh mug as my token sovernir.

Afterwards, we wandered into a magical old book store.

We found an incredible edition of Hobbit for Travis. :)

Then we went to the top of the city with a front door at Mount Washington.

Travis and Jay loved the statues.

That night we had dinner again.

It was so wonderful to be apart of that community for even just a couple of days.

It was as if we had always been there and would always be.

True community is such a beautiful thing, we sometimes take for granted.

They depended on each other,

worked together,

laughed with one another,

prayed in unison,

and LIVED life together.

Later, Travis, Jay, Amber, and me skipped out on Bible study and went for ice cream at Oh Ya's,

this place with millions of toppings that they blend all up for you. YUM!

We played spades (as usual) while the ice cream was being consumed.

Travis & Jay whipped me & Amber pretty good...but it was fun.

Tuesday, Travis & I explored Pittsburgh on own in a lazy fashion.

We walked Carrie & Scott's dog, Max,

and ate lunch at The Church Brew Works.

It was an old Catholic church transformed into a brewery!

It was definitely an experience with awesome food and homemade root beer. 

The booths were even made out of pews.

We spent the afternoon at Squirrel Hill at the Te Cafe and  the Library.

I think our entire trip could be boiled down to food, coffee, and books. :)

This adventure was amazing.

Pittsburgh is pretty much the coolest town ever.

I enjoyed Pittsburgh's coffee, culture, and community.

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Pittsburgh Preview

So Travis and I made it to Pittsburgh

To visit our lovely friends, Jay & Amber.

It rained the entire drive through the night,

But after 15 hours, we made it!

Once we were there, it felt like we just came over for a visit,

Filled with Spades, conversation, cookies, & good food.

We visited a Mennonite Church,

Which was fabulous.

The pastor taught on a very controversial topic,

Presented both interpretations of Scripture,

And left it up to us to make a choice.

It was refreshing.

So far, we have visited 3 coffee shops:

Coffee Tree Roasters

21st Street Coffee & Tea

Common Place Coffee Company.

(They are so great for putting up with my coffee explorations!)

Sunday afternoon was spent at the Strip District

& random SNOWBALL fights.

Oh, ya, it SNOWED!

On Spring Break.

Travis & Jay built a 7 foot snowman.

It has been great getting to know Jay & Amber's community:

Jen & Ryan,

Karen & Dave,

Carrie & Scott.

Each night we gather for dinner and afterwards have prayer.

Last night, we had Lentil Burgers!

YUM :)

This morning we had pancakes at Pamela's

and walked around Squirrel Hill.

Looking forward to what the rest of our adventure holds.

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My Valentine Got Me Pittsburgh

This year my Valentine, Travis, got me something extra special.

Instead of gifts, we decided to save our money to take an adventure together on Spring Break. Our good friends Jay and Amber live up in Pittsburgh, PA. Neither one of us has been to Pennsylvania, so it sounds really exciting.

If you recall my Train Ride Across America post, this is number four on my American Bucket List:
4) Visit my friends, Jay and Amber, in Pittsburgh, PA. They are doing some great work with Americorp, and I know their is a lot of coffee and history there.

I don't know what non-profit or coffee activity might take place or how to incorporate a train yet, but I am really excited for this adventure. I will keep you posted on every detail.

Have a very Happy Valentine's Day!

P.S. You only have 2 Days to Enter my BEE House Giveaway!!!!

YOU BETTER HURRY!!!

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