Nurturing Communities Network 2024 Gathering, KY
Reflections from my time at the national NCN 2024 gathering.
For the extended weekend of the 11th - 14th of October, Demarius and I drove down (well, Demarius did the driving - thank you!) to Camp Loucon, Kentucky, for the Nurturing Communities Network bi-annual national gathering.
Admittedly, I am rather stretched work-wise, with volumes of seminary work to squeeze in between a lot of travel (I’ve also been to Boston and Georgia since the gathering and off to New York next weekend too!) so let me jump straight to some bullet point reflections to save me from having to artfully connect paragraphs!
Reflections of the Heart
Familiar Faces: By the time we reached Camp Loucon it was already dark, the absence of lighting across the sprawling site not helping us in our endeavour to find where to sign in. Then, through the darkness, I glimpsed three familiar faces… from Koinonia! A little later I bumped into the folk from the Bloomington Catholic Worker, then the organizers I’d been in touch with over email, and it wasn’t long until I then met Tim who had first told me about this gathering (thank you!). I felt so very warmed and grateful at already having such a supportive network of people across the US, despite only having been here for just over a year. God is good!
Camp Loucon at night. Culture of friendliness: To this, I wish to highlight the natural warmth of friendship which radiated from everyone at the gathering. Despite only having brief overlap with the above-mentioned people, and despite not knowing any of the other attendees, it was as if we were all gathered for a family reunion. Intentional Christian community folk often exude a seemingly natural care and depth of connection. It’s a blessed and soul-lifting space to dwell in!
Attunement: Related to this quality, one of the speakers used the language of ‘attunement’ to describe the ability to be fully and deeply present to one another. I have consistently found the ability to ‘attune’ to others to be powerfully embodied by those who live in intentional Christian community.
Character Refinement: Being around so many intentional Christian community folk was deeply inspiring, reminding me of the formative power of communal living. I was surrounded by those whose character has been refined by their many years of communal living, bringing them a transformative awareness of the self and the challenge of true love of neighbour. The image which comes to mind is that of a wooden style, rubbed smooth by many hands, or that of a face wisened by the weathering of the wind.
Demarius (and I) helping to set up breakfast. (We each got assigned a volunteer slot to help with the smooth running of the gathering). Humility: Related, I was especially moved by the humility I experienced in conversation with people, with their level of self-awareness and the ease with which they lovingly articulated their own shortcomings being a source of inspiration.
Being Seen and Empowered: I was very touched to be given the opportunity to present what I’ve been observing about intentional Christian communities these past few years. At one point, I tried to back down from presenting my own research but the organizers reiterated that they were interested in my work and thought others would be too. Thank you Demarius, Joe and Nancy for insisting that my research is of interest!
Presenting my research on “The Difference in our Dwellings” (Thank you Demarius for the catchy title!). Once at the gathering too, to my great surprise, many had heard of this blog and podcast and were excited about, and grateful for, the resource it’s become. What a gift to see something which brings me so much life benefit others too! I am always aware of the fact that, compared to others in the field, I have much less lived experience of community (mostly owing to my age) but it seems that even people who have lived decades in community are interested in learning about how other communities do things. Thank you all for your interest and encouragement in this work!
I have also been very touched by the practical support offered to empower my work, with someone offering me membership to the Communal Studies Association and encouraging me to apply for their awards and scholarship (literally just after a conversation I had with someone else about how to find funding!), and someone else inviting me to a roundtable gathering on new monasticism.Workings of the Spirit: It was wonderful to witness the diversity of callings present among the gathering. We were all there due to our interest in intentional Christian community, yet each of us called to engage with it in different ways. Some called to commit decades of their life to one particular community; some called to academic research bridging old and new monasticism; some called to bring lessons learnt from intentional Christian community back into secular economics; some called to explore new ideas of Christian belonging, desire, and being neighbour… to name but a few.
Reflections of the Mind
Summer Camp: It was emphasised during my time at the gathering that, for many Americans, summer camp is an entry point into experiencing the transformative gift of close fellowship and community. Sadly, however, people don’t realise that close fellowship and community can exist outside of summer camp. In my small group, we discussed how Christian summer camps would be especially fertile places to advertise intentional Christian community opportunities open to young adults.
Camp Loucon, Kentucky - a Methodist site where the gathering was held and which is also used for conferences and summer camps. Anabaptist Communities: The gathering involved a visit to a neighbouring Anabaptist community who hosted us for a wonderful home-cooked lunch and tour of the grounds.
At the Anabaptist community in Caneyville, Kentucky. Through conversation, I came to realise that members of relatively closed Amish/Anabaptist communities in the US have many more options for lateral movement than those in the UK, providing options for members (and their grown children) to live in different, but culturally/religiously familiar, communities. (It seems relatively common for people’s families to be spread across a variety of Anabaptist communities.) Are the two Bruderhof communities in the UK the only Anabaptist communities in the UK?
Board of Advisors: The importance and blessing of a board of advisors - who are outside of the community, but deeply care about - was a recurring emphasis throughout the gathering.
For example, I had an insightful conversation with a member of an Anabaptist community in Dayton whose whole community had moved to join the Anabaptist community in Kentucky we were visiting. This move was suggested by their board of advisors as a response to the interpersonal difficulties the (Dayton) community was experiencing. The member I spoke with was incredibly grateful for the council given, and spoke very highly of their board of advisors, recommending that all communities should consider having such a board.
Also, how beautiful and encouraging to hear of a community who have very explicitly acknowledged their problems, sought help, and are collectively working through their difficulties (and in a very high-investment, long-term way at that!).Individualism: One of the breakfast roundtables I attended one morning was on the topic of individualism, as led by a member of the Bruderhof. During this discussion, I realised that whilst noticing and correcting our individualistic tendencies is important personal and spiritual work (work that community living can help us with greatly!), overemphasising communitarianism can also be potentially manipulative and harmful. For example, the outside critique or internal self-critique of being overly individualistic might suppress valid needs and desires (I wonder whether women are especially at risk of this).
Community living provides an incredibly helpful corrective to the harmful individualist tendencies of Western society, but I also think we need to remain attentive to not tipping too far the other way lest our communities become subversively abusive.Ecumenism: The gathering was ecumenical, bringing together a diversity of communities across the theological spectrum. However, it did lean toward the Anabaptist/Mennonite and low church side of things, and upheld more conservative family values.
Singing worship. This was a helpful reminder to me - as someone drawn to ecumenism - that ecumenical gatherings are never neutral but necessarily have to draw more from some traditions than others.
I very much appreciated this immersion into a different part of the body of Christ (especially in comparison to my very liberal Quaker seminary!).Cultural Celebration: The gathering had a small contingent of people from Mexico, and whilst the main language of the gathering was firmly English, Spanish translation was provided for the main sessions. What stood out even further, however, was our evening of Mexican dance and music with the music - sung by a daughter-and-dad team - especially moving my soul.
From being in the US, I am realising how publically culturally homogenous the UK is and how strongly it enforces a cultural norm to assimilate to (lest you be discriminated against). It continues to be a fascinating journey for me to experience how the US leans into its multiculturalism.
Moving Forward Inspired
US Tour…?: The gathering amplified my desire to continue the dwelling, podcast and blogging work I did in the UK more intentionally in the US. I would especially love to learn from Inglewood, Sojourners, Rutba House and Reba Place Fellowship to name but a few from a growing list.
UK Community Network: How amazing that the Nurturing Community Network exists! I would love to see a similar network established in the UK.
Commissioning: The gathering was of great personal and spiritual significance for Demarius and I, it feeling like a commissioning into this work of nurturing intentional Christian community, together.
Closing Note
How soul-nourishing to be among so many others who ‘get’ the intentional Christian community thing, and bear such beautiful witness to it! I wish to extend the HUGEST of thanks and recognition to the organisers (especially Joe and Nancy!) for all of their planning and execution of this event. It was truly beautifully organised and brought together in ways which enabled the Spirit to flow so very powerfully. Thank you! (And I hope you have been able to catch up on some much-deserved rest!).
Thank you also to the love of my life, Demarius - I am so grateful we get to journey together :).
Thank you for putting words to this time! It's a gift to reflect upon.