Well it has been over a year since anything has been done with this blog. When I last posted to this blog I had thought I might start posting here semi-regularly. This of course did not happen. At the time the community was still settling in after having been in the Parsonage of Immanuel Lutheran Church for six months. Now we have been here a year and a half and we had an open house for the members of our host church yesterday after their morning service. Our having been invited to move in and our working out a property sharing agreement with Immanuel for the parsonage a year and a half ago was controversial for some members and some of the negative impressions that left had lingered this is one of many things we hope will create a good relationship between the community and congregation. I wrote a brief explanation of the community and our activities for a brochure we had available yesterday during the open house. I thought I would post that here for anyone who might stop by. (I don't promise to start posting regularly about the community but we are still here, and if you are in Chicago and are looking to be part of an intentional community feel free to contact us.)
The Community of the Holy Trinity: who we are and how might you participate in the life of the community.
We are a community that was begun by Larry and Kate Kamphausen in 2003 with two friends. The community was formed to provide a space for Christians, especially those who are artists and social activist and social workers, to come together in mutual support of God’s calling and living out the Gospel through holding property in common in a life centered on the daily rhythms of prayer and an environment of hospitality. Our inspiration has been the monastic tradition of the Church, as well as specific communities like the monks of Taize and the Reba Place community in Evanston. The community does not have a common purpose except prayer and hospitality, but we come together to support each others’ callings in the areas of art and social action. Our common life together is governed by a Rule that is currently in the process of its third revision. We are also currently seeking to partner with a Christian organization called Culture is Not Optional* (CINO*), which seeks to encourage and support Christian engagement with all aspects of culture -- the arts, sciences, politics -- and to do so with an open but distinctly Christian perspective. The organization, like Holy Trinity, is ecumenical, though its founders all come out of the Christian Reformed tradition.
The community’s daily prayer schedule: morning prayer at 7 AM and evening prayer at
7 PM Monday through Saturday, usually in Immanuel’s side chapel. We currently use prayers adapted from a now out-of-print prayer book published by the Taize community of France, Praise God: Prayers from Taize.
We have common meals together. We attempt to have at least three community meals in a week, though often our only common meal, due to our schedules, is Saturday breakfast when we also have our weekly community meeting. On the first and third Fridays of each month the community meal is open to those outside the community to join us for supper.
The life of a community like ours is dynamic. If you are interested in participating in the life of the community there are several ways you may do so, only some of which require officially joining the community and/or living in the parsonage. Anyone is invited to join us, without prior notice, for morning or evening prayer in the chapel during the week. (We do not have prayer services on Sunday and due to our current schedules our Saturday prayer services are intermittent.)
You may also join us for community supper after evening prayer, 7:30/8:00PM, or for “Hospitality Friday” on the first and third Fridays of each month. We only ask that if you wish to join us to simply contact us the day before so we can plan the meals accordingly.
Also, we do accept new members into the community. Currently, if you were interested in joining the community there is one space available for living in the parsonage. However, we are also seeking families, couples, individuals who may wish to move into the neighborhood, renting or buying a place near the church, and committing to live according to the rule of the community but on another property.
Lastly, Larry Kamphausen as Prior of the community offers the service of Spiritual Direction to individuals, couples and groups. Spiritual direction is the current term for an ancient Christian practice of spiritual conversation, which has been known as soul friend, companion on the way, and spiritual fatherhood/motherhood. Essentially a spiritual director sits with and companions a directee in her or his spiritual life and journey. The reasons for seeking out a spiritual director are many, but can include a crisis in life or faith, or simply a desire to explore or deepen one’s engagement with spiritual disciplines and prayer life. The role of the spiritual director in any and all of these situations is to help the directee listen to God, and through listening to the story of the directee to help her/him to find God in life. The spiritual director does not impose his or her individual spiritual life or practices upon the directee but is like a midwife to the directee’s spiritual life and growth in faith and journey with God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Feel free to take this with you and talk with us today or give us a call or e-mail if you have further questions about any aspect of the Community of the Holy Trinity and our common life.
Phone: 773-856-6154
e-mail: communityholytrinity@netzero.net
We also have a blog that has some information but is not currently updated
http://communityholytrinity.blogspot.com
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