Welcome to my ongoing series on prayer walking and discovering God in the wildly diverse city of Chicago!

I’m not doing this alone - there is a collaborative effort underway to encourage city street prayer walking and discovery with church planters, churches, and college students all across the city. Find our wiki here.

Chicago is a mission field, it is our mission field.

There are 77 recognized community areas in the city, making it one of the most glocal, ethnically diverse, and contrasted cities in the world. The people of Chicago are fiercely loyal to their ‘hood and many (though they live in a global city) rarely leave the boundaries of their blocks for another part of town.

My hopes are to make good use of my CTA Chicago card; using buses and trains to travel to and in these different communities. I will do my best to write reflections on what I saw, felt, and heard from God as I navigate through the city. My assumption is that God is already at work in their neighborhoods (in bars, churches, and city streets), and a missionary’s job is to find him and point him out for others to see. My centering prayer will come from Luke 10, asking God our Father, the Lord of the Harvest, to raise up workers in the desperate harvest field of that particular neighborhood.

With so many villages to pray through, (there are 77 recognized areas, but most maps draw up about 237 neighborhoods), I’m thinking I may also look for teammates in this work, and start a collaborative project to draw out a complete “spiritual map” of the city. If you are a church planter in Chicago or would like to work on this with me, please email me (see “Contact Us” on this blog’s sidebar).

Why spend so much energy on this project? My firm belief is that first and foremost God’s people depend on God through prayer. If there is to be a church planting movement with lives transformed and the gospel proclaimed afresh, it will come through a prayer movement. One that has its ear close to the ground, to see what God is doing in the streets.

This will be sort of a “live” post, meaning I’ll be updating it as a directory to posts about each neighborhood. To learn what I found from each neighborhood, click on the name of each below:

Following is a list of the Chicago Community Areas by community area number (see map).

May God get the glory!

There has been a new shift in many of the conversations I’ve been having with leaders in the “simple church” circles. And the latest podcast from The God Journey focuses keenly on this topic as well. Its the notion of bringing “agendas” to Christian gatherings - most of those I’ve talked with and listened to are pretty against doing something like this, calling instead for a simple “family life” orientation.

What does that look like? Instead of someone coming prepared with a lesson, another person ready to lead a prayer and some songs, or what have you, meetings are simply a hang out time for Christ-followers. Basically a place to share a meal and engage in conversation.

Many of those who are of this persuasion find it maddening to show up at a gathering expecting it just to be an agenda-less, family-style gathering, only to become frustrated when they find someone else taking the reins and steering the meeting into a Bible Study or a personal rant they feel God has called them to share.

I personally find the “agenda-less” philosophy of living as a church hard to swallow. In many ways I think there have been several in the family of faith I’m a part of who have left because we have leaned toward an “agenda-less” gathering. We used to volunteer to facilitate the prayer, praise, and Word times the week before, and come prepared with something to share. As we moved on we stopped doing that, and some thought that we just weren’t doing anything when we came together.  In some ways I agree with them.  It seems that (at least in my experience) when you go too long without an agenda, your group devolves into a social club, or just a time to gossip and watch movies.

Last Sunday our network had a Father’s Day Celebration at one of our elders’ homes. It was a 2 hour pool party with a cookout, followed by a time of worship and sharing. It was absolutely touching to see the elderly sitting on the floor with the children playing with blocks and praising the Lord in common song. It was also great to share in communion that someone passed around and prayed for, and others shared how Christ was working in their lives. Simple, profound.

It didn’t feel like anyone had an agenda - although there were people who had things they felt they needed to share.

Maybe there is a third way.

There are certain times when a certain “agenda” needs to be addressed in a community. We certainly see Paul with agendas - routing out sin, establishing leaders, focusing on Christ’s death and resurrection as the centrality of the Gospel and the Church. But there are times when gatherings should just be a party; a relaxed, informal gathering of believers who come to hang out. Maybe the key to it all is like riding the waves (a great image from my buddy B).

We’ve got to take the pressure off the “meeting time”. When we focus more on life in the Body than on seeing “God show up” in a 2 hour time slot, we’ll see him appear all week long. We’ll have the chance (like we did last Sunday) to bring the words and songs and “agendas” GOD has given us, and everyone will feel his presence when we gather in Jesus’ name.

This means meeting more than once a week at the same time, and it also means not meeting every single week. It is the ebb and flow of relationship, and it is also learning that our “church” does not have a membership list - we ARE the Church with each other and the whole world. It means leaning not on our own understanding, but on God’s wisdom for what we need to be doing next.

Listening to Jesus, doing what he says, and finding LIFE together as God’s family. A great tag line for the Church, don’t you think?

So much is happening.  It looks like today’s post might be one of those eclectic, A.D.D. posts.

———

Last weekend Katrina and I drove all the way up to middle Tennessee for a family reunion retreat in the middle of Natchez Trace State Park.  It was an amazing journey up (including submitting a paper for a class by email while sitting in a Super 8 Motel parking lot!), and Katrina and I had a lot of time to talk a bunch of big things through.  The weekend itself was very nostalgic/avant-garde.  My family is a mixture of ultra-conservative non-institutional Church of Christ folks, and a branch of extreme-prophetic non-denominational neo-charismatics.  And then there’s Katrina and I who “don’t go to church anywhere”.  So its always interesting when we bust out the song books and break out in worship.  Good ole’ unity in Christ.  I guess Paul said we were “one” in Christ, not one in church.  Surprisingly, we had a lot of people get really excited about our mission work, and committed to praying for us.  Awesome!

———

This Saturday is Wikicclesia, a chance for people who are living on the edges of God’s Kingdom and/or leading communities of God to come together and share what they’ve learned so far.  That’s why we’re calling it “Wikicclesia” - “cclesia” since that is the Greek word for gathering or church, and “wiki” because its set up not as a lecture-conference, but with lots of round tables, markers, and huge sheets of paper for brainstorming.  Everyone is encouraged to share what they’ve learned, which informs how the day goes - think of the day as an article on Wikipedia - the whole thing takes shape under the leadership of many, and truthfully, under the leadership of the Spirit.  Cool!  If you’re in the area and would like to attend, follow the link above and contact those at that email address.  Or just leave me a comment.

———

We’re reading some great books, thanks to a little book on speed reading.  Here’s a few on our list right now:  Deep Economy: the wealth of economies and the durable future,  Global Chicago, Wikinomics: how mass collaboration changes everything, and The Jesus Way: a conversation on the ways that Jesus is the Way.   Speed reading has been such a “freeing” tool for me and her lately; we have so much we want to learn (and remember) and speed reading helps us through the stack of library books before they’re all due.  And the TV can just stay off for all I’m concerned.

———

Yesterday I went out with Kent and Miller to the 411 Project.  Miller and others have been working hard!  Much of the land has been cleared, simple shelters and structures have been erected, goats have a real pen, chickens have their roost…and the well is being dug.  Miller plans to use the dirt dug out for the well to make compressed earth blocks for his family’s house.  It was great fun learning and working with him on the making a few of these powerful bricks.  I’ve not written on this before, but Katrina and I are keenly interested in this type of building as a sustainable and durable alternative (not to mention affordable!) to traditional stick-and-insulation homes for our own living situation.  While the project is just getting started, I can say already that the 411 project has brought beauty out of a forgotten land, and is restoring it to a state that brings glory to God.

———

I suppose that’s what I’ve got time to toss up here for now.  I keep waiting for the summer to slow down so I can get in a more blogarific mood, but I’m still waiting I guess.  Time to catch up on reading your blog!

Our network of emerging, spiritual communities has been waiting a long time for this. Several of us have struggled over how to best connect our network with itself. We truly just don’t know the answer to “what about larger gatherings?” when people question us about our dreams for life in the Kingdom. We believe that finally God is showing us some important steps to take.

For really the first time, the Jesus Family Network is hosting a gathering for anyone invested and leading Kingdom of God communities here in Abilene and West Texas. Organic churches, neo-monastic communities, life groups, families living as outposts for God’s Kingdom in poor neighborhoods, you name it - we’re desperate to hear from everyone, because we believe that the Spirit has things to say to everyone, through everyone. What is Christ up to in our region? What will it take for us to join him? I honestly don’t know the full answer to that - but I can contribute to the conversation, and through others I can learn so much!
Here in a few weeks, we’ll take a Saturday afternoon and turn it into a beautiful web of conversations. Around tables, we will laugh, share, and search for God’s word for us. What would it take to see a vibrant family of Jesus in close reach of every person in West Texas? Then we’ll hop up from that table, and share what we’ve learned with another table, cross-pollinating the whisperings of the Spirit as we continue to share with more and more people. We’re calling it Wikicclesia because God’s church (ecclesia) is about hearing from the Lord through his people - a sort of mass collaboration (Wiki) that brings us closer to the Truth.

This is our first attempt at living as a “starfish“. Wikipedia learned that when you release people to talk about what they are experts in, you see a huge proliferation of genius and breadth of insight. Of course, you also have to sort out the wackos…
Nevertheless, I believe that the Spirit has something to say in each of us, and that we are missing out when our “church meetings” involve a singular “sage on the stage”. Why can’t every person who feels invested in God’s life share what he’s been up to, and benefit the whole body? In a sense, Wikicclesia is only the beginning.

The Jesus Family Network is just as it’s name implies - a network that is coherently synthesized as a family; consistently sharing love and insight. I have seen this happen regularly in a smaller way through JFN, and now I believe God is allowing us to try things out on a larger scale. I have invited a few people that I know and think may benefit from being there. Others have done the same.

This is about natural relationships, not about broadcasting the event on radio and newspaper. Those who need to be there will be there. And God only knows what will come of it!

If you come to our “Green Valley Abbey” (what we’ve deemed our home; a Christian communal living/ neo-monastery), you’ll find a group of us just starting to live into becoming a spiritual family for each other. We don’t have it all figured out yet - not even close! - but our goal is simply to begin implementing intentional rhythms of life together. Here are some things we’re trying so far:

Morning Vigils have been a way for all of us to gather together and center on the Lord and minister to each others hearts in the morning before we head off to our various activities. Since our goal is not to spend all of our social life together (thus cutting us off from others we could reach out to and draw into Christ and his community), we see this time as our way of daily fighting for one another’s hearts. Our morning vigil is focused specifically on who is present, and inviting Christ to lead us through our day in his presence.

Evening meals around the table have naturally become a centerpiece to our community. Almost every night of the week we gather around the dinner table and share a meal together, discussing the day’s events. Some nights the conversation is light and playful, other nights we engage in theological dialogue, other nights we may not say anything at all…

Each Sunday, the ladies divvy up who will cook on which nights, and write out grocery lists for the upcoming week. Living together allows there to be nights off from certain tasks, and gives opportunity to bless others by cooking or cleaning up after them. (Guys need to take over cooking sometime!!!)
Most Abbeys have a garden that all the members tend to for food and beautification of the grounds. While the ladies may have the food part down, the men are working on the outdoor gardens. Tilling, planting, mulching…the closer you are to the Earth, the better you are able to get to know your brother. This has been especially fun for me, and slowly and surely, we are working into a rhythm for mowing, watering, etc.

Finally, and most importantly, we don’t want this to be “all about us”. We are constantly inviting others over to experience this communal life. It’s a lot of fun! So far we’ve had a Fourth of July cookout, and there are plans for future days of celebration (that may correlate to the Christian calendar). In addition to these, once a month the Abbey grounds open up for visitors interested in hearing from God. Early Saturday morning, people arrive in quiet and simply find a place, indoor or outdoor, to sit and listen. Some lay out in the grass, others keep their nose in a book. After an hour and a half or so, we ring a bell, and invite everyone to breakfast, where we can share what we heard from the Lord that morning. So far, it has been some of the most encouraging conversations we’ve had in our Abbey.

We are calling this a “holy experiment” because we really don’t know how all of this will turn out. Truly, we just want to be transformed by Jesus, and our conviction is that we find great opportunity in the midst of a community fully centered on Him. Whatever we do - we want it to be life-giving, rather than rote or just busy-ness. I’d love feedback, and of course, suggestions on other things we could try implementing into our life rhythms together.