20.2 The Well-Built Community
© 2018 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
Love is something that must be built by design. Family life in Christian Community is something that must be built by design.
From age 20 until age 41, my life revolved around the practical construction of Christian Community. I am first a designer and builder of Community. Teaching and writing come second and thus serve what I am at heart.
I capitalize the word “Community” because it is just another name for Jesus. And so, in many ways, this is my most favorite topic. And this is the first time (actually, maybe the second) I have been able to write this topic. Everything I have written before is just to make this reality possible.
The Singing of My Heart. I did not actually know what I would find when I opened Patterns of Home to write about “Private Edges – Common Core.” Yet as I typed out those words, the singing of my heart, the joy of life together, was being expressed in every line. When I looked back just now, I saw that the authors had even used the term, “family life” in describing this pattern.
It is twenty years, now, since that strange, quiet, and almost empty summer when I and my family drove out from Blair Valley as we left that season of our life. In every day of these twenty years since, I have believed God to restore to us that Community that I have desired since I was a child.
My Hope. I have no ability whatsoever to start the Community of my heart. And thus the one word that grows and grows in me is – “It’s not by your outward abilities, My son (good, because I don’t have any), and it’s not by your inward fortitude (something that fizzled away long ago), but by MY Spirit,” says the Lord.
It was in the early part of that year, February of 1998, that God gave me command – “Give My people hope.” The one thing inside of me that has held firm through the twenty years until now, and not just held firm, but grown ever deeper and stronger – is my hope. I HOPE with all my heart, that God will place me soon into the Christian Community of my heart.
I Am a Caller. I do love to write, and I love to teach. But those loves do not compare to my love of designing and building Christian Community, the outward expression of Jesus – God among us.
And yes, I am absolutely committed to the ridiculous and heretical conviction that many Christian Communities are together the return of the Lord Jesus Christ bodily upon this earth. I am committed mindfully to that conviction since I was 21 years old, though I knew it deep inside when I was but 12.
I am a caller – Awake, O north wind, and come, O south! Blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my Beloved come to His garden and eat its pleasant fruits. – Until the Day breaks and the shadows flee away (Song of Solomon).
The Tabernacle. Again, from Patterns of Home.
- Organize the main social spaces of the house—kitchen, dining, and living/family rooms—as a single flowing common space, with one place as its clear heart.
- Make the heart a generous, attractive space, just off the main circulation crossroads of the house—protected from the traffic, yet located so that everyone coming and going passes by it.
The Center. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me (Revelation 3:20). Jesus is not speaking of evangelism, but of Himself, for His name is Community – breaking bread together.
The worship service, then, takes place in the dining room with the tables set aside, but we know of that space first as our shared meals together. The Tabernacle is placed, then, in the “center” of the Community buildings, yet that concept is open to many differing interpretations. And I draw from many different expressions to set forth this model for you.
A Particular Model. My favorite such model is the community where my daughter lived for several years, up until her wedding day. Let me give the layout.Now, this layout works only by the first rule – inhabiting the site. A different site will require a different interpretation. The Tabernacle here also has the best layout to me of any I have known. The entry is in the center, facing the gardens. Cars could park in front of the Tabernacle, something that usually would NOT work.
Cozy and Accommodating. Then, when you enter through the entry/mail room/boot and coat room you are in the dining area. The stairs up are on the back wall. To the right is the kitchen, open to the dining, with a serving bar between. Beyond the kitchen are utility and bathrooms. Then, on the left of the dining area is a family sitting area. The single large room is small enough to be cozy, but big enough to accommodate. This is a balance that must be found with great care.
To seat 100 people around tables requires a space of around 720 square feet or approximately 20’ by 32.’ If the family sitting area is utilized, about 150 people could be seated at tables for a special occasion – and the total space could accommodate up to 200 people for a special service.
“Just Right.” If you design the space for family only, you will be unable to accommodate special gatherings. If you design the space for special gatherings, the regular family gathering will not be cozy at all. I have seen both extremes, but “just right” always feels like home. I have designed two large community kitchens. Such a kitchen operates differently from a small home kitchen. The key concept to consider is the flow of movement by several people at once, from pantry through to service. Those two designs are among my favorites; both worked well. Another Tabernacle that worked well had the dining area also in the center, but with wings on each of its four sides, entry coming in, kitchen to the left, worship area to the right and family sitting area opposite the entry.
The Flow of Togetherness. It is important to understand that the flow of movement through the times of the day, as people go about their daily tasks, is a constant increase and decrease here and there of fellowship and work. It is this fluctuating FLOW of togetherness that is the primary thought in all design. When I look at the outline I gave above, I do not see a sterile “plan.” Rather, I see the flow of people. I hear the laughter and joy, and I see the giving of Jesus on each face.
The worship service is the “God side of things,” one might say, where we together enter into all that is God. But eating meals together is the family side of things, where God enters into all that is us. Both functions in the same space just seems to be right.
Eating Together. Eating meals, that is “breaking bread,” together through the seasons of many years is the essence of life together, the essence of the Church, the essence of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is built inside of us inside of such a thing cannot be explained nor can it be duplicated any other way. Naysayers can argue against that statement all they want; they remain utterly ignorant of God as He is.
“Company” is “bread together.” “Companion” is one who shares bread together. The fellowship together during the meal is like the undulating waves of a gentle sea. After the meal, no one is in a hurry to leave; enjoying one another’s company is the deepest value of life.
Private Edges. But then we have the “private edges,” as critical to this flow of life together as the central place of fellowship.
- In contrast to the common area at the heart, create a sequence of private spaces, some immediately adjacent to the heart, some relatively remote.
- The private spaces, even at their most remote, should be conceived as edges that give definition to the commons by the fact of separating themselves from it.
An Intimacy Gradient. An “intimacy gradient” – what a concept! If the common gathering area were all there was, one would feel like being adrift on the open sea with no protection from the wind. It is the private edges that give the common gathering its definition and meaning.
A Community will have many different sizes of homes, all the way from little “cottages” for young married couples to large homes for families that include many singles into their hearts, giving others besides their own children a place to call home. The elderly, especially, must be fully respected and honored with their own private place, yet with someone nearby able to meet all their needs.
More Places of Gathering. Then, we go to the concept of recreating the pattern of private edges – common core at a lesser scale in other places besides the Tabernacle. Again, think of the flow and movement of people through all the activities of day and evening in life together.
The second place of gathering together is the school building. In our one-building school at Blueberry, the center of the building was the common gathering/study/devotions area, with the classrooms all around it as the “private edges.” Then there is the phenomenon of women drawing together in the aspects of their daily work and men drawing together in the aspects of their daily work. This is not “sexist,” but natural.
Just Happens. These natural gatherings cannot be forced; they will just happen. But their happening can be accommodated in the design of the structures. The primary gathering place for women could be a craft/sewing/food preparation room/building, where the flow of activity is punctuated by women talk. The primary gathering place for men will most likely be one of the shops, where men gather at odd times to warm their hands over the stove and talk man talk. A wise architect will pencil into the plans the ability for these spontaneous and unplanned gatherings to happen in the design of the work spaces, a critical part of life together.
Always at Home. Then, as I mentioned before, one or two of the homes will be larger, occupied by a couple whose hearts extend out to include many besides their children. These homes will experience a constant flow of people in and out. In fact, in the two such homes like this in the Blueberry Community, no one knocked (on those two homes only), but just came in and out as family. That flow fluctuated in the same way as everywhere else. And every individual coming into those two particular homes was always at home, welcome and part of the family, even if only for a few minutes. I’m talking about life together; I’m talking about Jesus.
“Half-Private.” Finally, I want to look at these thoughts.
“Family life requires… places that are half private, places where a few people can talk and still be socially connected with someone who is sitting nearby reading the paper. Children often want to be “alone” in the presence of the family, and this is a need that persists in various forms throughout adulthood.”
I know from years of experience that buildings can be designed in a way that accommodates family life and buildings can be designed in a way that thwarts family life. These two concepts, going in both directions, are the most vital things to think about carefully in the initial design of every building in the community.
Ebb and Flow. Inside of every space, there should be a center that just naturally allows spontaneous gathering together. And around the edges of every space designed for gathering together, there should be designed what are called alcoves or inglenooks, window seats, or tucked away places, where a level of privacy can be enjoyed, yet with the full view and hearing of the larger gathering.
In all these things we always think in terms of the ebb and flow of people in ongoing daily activity. Thus, amazingly, we see how these two patterns, entering boldly and loving one another, that is, full respect for and enjoyment of one another, how these two “verses” are tied together.
Many Differences, Same Patterns. Then, we understand that every local Church is different in its people, its activities, its purpose and focus. And every Community is situated on a different site, with differing views, and for some, with structures already in place. What persists in common in every place is these patterns of home. Their outward construction will vary in all the ways that people and circumstances vary.
Someone on Amazon criticized Patterns of Home for being only for “rich people.” My favorite building that I designed and built was a small trapline cabin, designed for a family of five way out in the bush. Though it cost relatively little, it was special, because somehow, as I realize now, every single one of these ten patterns worked together in perfect harmony.
Family Life. It’s not the buildings that matter, but this thing called “family life.” Yet I have seen communities designed in such a way as to CRUSH family life by the force of the walls and spaces. And I have seen communities designed in such a way that the precious flow of life together happened just naturally, in many different centers of the layout.
“Finding the right mix of common and private spaces, and putting them together in a way that allows both to flourish, is one of the central issues of home design.” (Patterns of Home)
In the next lesson, I want to talk about the family life that happens in a well-built Community. Then we will be ready to enter into that Heart of God to be made visible.