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THE DOORBELL rings and another man shuffles into the
home on East Hastings Street. He is welcomed by name, and the chairs
screech as more room is made at the dining table. There is always
room for one more in this nightly ritual, a family meal complete with kids
and laughter.
For the past two years, the Servants Vancouver
community has made radical hospitality a central tenet of their lives
together. Co-founder Nay Greenfield says: “There are plenty of
service providers and soup kitchens here, and they do lots of good things.
But people are longing for something deeper, more transformative, a place
to belong, a family. So we welcome them into our lives and home as Jesus
taught us.”
Servants Vancouver is just one of a number of
intentional Christian communities sprouting up all over North America in
the last four or five years, often called ‘New Monastic’
communities. The movement has been inspired by people such as WW II martyr
Dietrich Bonhoeffer and humanitarian Jean Vanier, and popularized by author
Shane Claiborne.
Recognizing the growth of interest locally in New
Monasticism, Grandview Calvary Baptist Church and Carey Institute are
hosting a May 2 workshop to bring together a number of intentional
Christian communities in Vancouver, church leaders and others interested in
learning about how the movement can engage and refresh the church.
To register for the workshop, contact williamcarey.ca
or newmonasticism@gcbchurch.ca
– Craig Greenfield
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