Communitas is a movement of intentional Christian communities called to engage those beyond the reach of the existing church.
In a time when people are no longer listening to the words of the church, we in Communitas strive to stand in the gap — to embody a holistic Gospel that gives “flesh” to the Words and truths of who Jesus is through our posture to serve, love, sacrifice, and relate in normal life with those who would never give a hearing to conventional church efforts.
Our goal is simple — to expand the Kingdom of God — and together we commit to:
- Partnering with our neighbours and community in transforming our communities
- Relating and sharing our pilgrimage with people towards Christ
- Creating fresh expressions of Biblical faith communities (a.k.a. church) that are culturally relevant to our contexts
- Empowering like-minded emerging leaders in fresh expressions and communities in our cities
Values
Though the reality of Communitas looks different in every context and city, our shared passions drive us, and each of our teams operate according to these four central values:
Community
We serve and live interdependently, celebrating the unique contribution of each person and community.
Mission
We exist to expand God’s Kingdom. We posture ourselves to love those who are beyond the reach of the church for whatever reason.
Spiritual Formation
We follow Jesus …together. Hence, we worship, listen, pray, grow in our dynamic relationship with Jesus together, and regularly.
Diversity
We celebrate the mosaic of subcultures within our society. Therefore, we celebrate the incarnation of Christ in the various ways demonstrated by our different communities
Communitas as an Order
An order is a group of people who share life (common life rhythms, spiritual formation and mission) together, where a common call, values and ethos are the foundation to how we live. We more closely resonate and reflect the Celtic orders during and following St. Patrick’s mission in Europe, that spread across Britain and onto the European continent in the centuries following Patrick’s life. We also learn and integrate many great lessons from the other Catholic and Protestant orders we encounter.
We live this way not in a desire to be unique or “cool”, but rather because our submersion into a life of giving ourselves away so radically is exhaustive and as community living with this level of commitment, we are encouraged, formed, and grow in a shared journey together.
Our life as an order impacts how we assimilate and shape people exploring what we do and how we do it. They move through a journey of intern (exploration), apprentice (participation) and novitiate (integration and innovation) towards becoming sojourners with us. We know and intend that there will be exploration by interns and apprentices that will impact them, but not culminate in them joining us long term. This is our intent.
Our weekly and seasonal rhythms include strategizing together in mission, living mission and common life rhythms together and spiritual formation weekly in our own liturgies and learning community.
Teams
In New Orleans, Communitas is currently serving in three neighborhoods in New Orleans — in Audubon, Freret, and Faubourg Marigny. In Valparaiso, Indiana, our community serves inmates in a local prison, and helps transition these men and women into community afterwards.
