I can’t believe its already Friday!  This past week has flown by so fast.  Last weekend as most of you know was Mother’s Day, so my work at the restaurant pretty well took over everything else.  This week has been about imagining and implimenting the groundwork for our church network’s bank account, and network website.  Check out the website here.  It will be a site where leaders can recieve training, where those in Chicago can connect with others in the underground network (though Facebook-style connectivity), and sojourners can learn more about Jesus.

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The bank account is essentially a ministry expense account.  We’re working on setting up a budget and all the fun things that go along with that, so that faith communities in the network can contribute to it and participate in doing ministry and serving God together.  I’ve posted an article on Organic Economics for the network, but I’ll link to it here too.  Its essentially a short document on some creative suggestions for how to handle a common fund as an organic network.  If you have any other ideas, post them in the comments below!

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All this laying-the-foundation stuff is fine and dandy, but I’m ready to move on.  I’m ready to flex some creative muscle, and do something besides web design and paperwork.  What are some latent ways the Kingdom is bubbling up in Chicago?  What are some ways to subvert the power systems in our city, to put them on public display and reveal the brokeness inherent in the system?  How can we display Jesus, both in our everyday friendships and in special occasions/events this summer?  These are the questions that are on my mind now.

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David Watson has been presenting some of his work on disciple making to several of my friends in Dallas.  People like Jared Looney, Phil McCollum, Gailyn Van Rheenen, and others are there – and I’m wishing I could be too.  But they’re streaming it online for your viewing enjoyment.  Watch now!

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Lastly, I’ve been working with others pretty intentionally on a “reproductive catechesis.” …No, this is not sex-ed!  Have you ever wondered what Christian education is for?  I believe that there is a cycle that we have broken in modern Christianity that needs to be amended.  We have brought people to a saving faith in Jesus Christ.  But rarely do we ask them to move on to any form of maturity in Christ.  Even more rare is giving them the expectation from Day 1 that their mission is to then bring others to Jesus, thus completing the cycle.  Its a one way street – a half-cycle, which will not develop into much.  I’m working with others in Chicago to create a pathway that brings people intentionally to a saving relationship with Jesus and his people, move them on to maturity, and in the process give them a chance to show Jesus to others.  Each one, reach one. If every Christian focused in on doing this once a year, the whole world could be reached in less than 20 years.  All 7 billion of us.  Let that sink in.

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Oh, and Lost’s season finale was crazy.  Cubs are tied for 1 in the Central Division.  Katrina makes the best calzones in the universe (maybe even the multi-verse, although a calzone face-off between Katrina and parrallel-universe Katrina would be pretty interesting).  And biking is totally in again.

Stumbled across the Cottage Company today, and was intrigued by some of their architectural projects focused on the social as well as the physical. They have been around since at least 1995, and specialize in something called “pocket neighborhoods.” I believe these will be an important piece for future developments as the world moves away from a car-centric economy.

When I first saw Ross Chapin’s designs of the 5 little houses (750-900 square feet) circling an open garden space, it made me think of the TV show LOST - a little neighborhood village once owned by the workers of the Dharma Initiative, now called “New Otherton”. I have to admit, I was a little confused at who might want to live in such a Walt Disney world. But as I read through this article, I began to see the benefits of having your own space, and yet sharing common space.

Each neighborhood is set up in caldisac/bungalo court fashion (but the pavement is replaced with low fences, vegetable and flower gardens, and a playground for the kids), with 6-8 homes all facing the common area.

There is less inside space, which means people are on front porches more. It also means owning less – like this guy and his 100-Thing challenge. There is no garage door for people to sneak home in their SUVs and shut behind them. A lot of the privatization inherent in owning your own home today is taken away, but there is still plenty of private space – for instance, the bedrooms/bathrooms are facing away from the common area, but the living rooms are positioned towards it.

This kind of life is nothing new – monasteries have been designing communities like this since at least the 5th century, and maybe even further back. It speaks to the rhythms of life – the need for privacy, and the need for community.

I think America could benefit from seeing this new kind of “mini-suburb” pop up all across the landscape. Its much smaller and cheaper housing (which helps in the sub-prime mortgage woes), it offers instant babysitter opportunities, more locally grown food (savings and taste abound), and those who already live in one of these dozen or so communities across the country is that their need for privacy is not violated, and that their sense of security and safety has dramatically increased!

Community is not all bliss and no woe – we learned a lot about communal living when my wife and I moved into an Abbey about two years ago, only to move out 8 months later. Still, we wouldn’t trade that experience for anything, and I think it gives us yet another picture of how to make friends in a tragically lonely America.

What are your honest thoughts about this? I’d love to hear more perspectives on potential pitfalls and unique opportunities. Who out there is attempting anything like this? Give us your insight.

Part of being a disciple of Christ is learning to live in God’s governance; his new economy. In America, we tend to see capitalism as the foundation for our society – production and consumption are the backbone to its market economy. Capitalism tends to put competition at the top of a short list of values for its citizens. We see the vicious, unjust effects of this all the time – the rich are taxed much less than the poor, unemployment, concentration of political and economic exploitation, and environmental rape.

Maybe its time in God’s Kingdom to function more organically in a new economy.

I just found out about time banks! They are really sweet way to use the currency of time to provide services to a local community.

The concept is simple. For every hour you give in service to another Time Bank member, you earn one Time Dollar. You can now use this Time Dollar to spend on a service someone else offers in the time bank community.

Time Dollars are a community currency that members earn by using their time, energy, skills, and talents to help others. Time Banking is about local individuals, organizations or business’s helping each other in one-to-one exchanges or in group projects. Members help rebuild neighborhood networks and strengthen communities. There are lots of time bank communities that set up shop on the internet as a way to search available services and meet their neighbors.

What an amazing way to (1) save money (2) participate in a local, neighbor centered economy and (3) experience the redistribution of wealth and resources. Imagine seeing a white collared businessman doing taxes for a Mexican immigrant family who earned their Time Dollar repainting their black neighbor’s house, who got his Time Dollars by going grocery shopping for the elderly woman across the street. Imagine the crime rate going down as neighbors get to know each other and watch out for each other. Imagine an investment into your own local economy!

“Give and you shall receive” – God’s economy doesn’t include dolla billz, he was talking about relationships!

Maine Time Banks – a time bank up in Portland, Maine

Start Your Own! – no matter how big or how small, why not begin one in your neighborhood?

Living In Story- Reciprocal Missionality in the Image of God – Ron Pate’s participatory seminar that clued me in to time banks. He is a part of SCUPE (Seminary Consortium of Urban Pastoral Education) in Chicago. SCUPE helps communities in Chicago start timebanks (they call it Abundance in the Beloved Community, or ABC’s).