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When I stepped back for a minute, I began to wonder what “enough” money actually means for me. In our group, there was a wide range of experiences with money: fellows who experienced poverty, wealth, upward mobility, and downward mobility. One thing was universal amongst the fellows: talking about money brought up some difficult emotions.
True belonging that lies not in the same paths we trek back and forth each year, nor in assuming that the generations after us are following close behind. Our salvation depends not on looking backward but on reaching forward, moving ourselves and our world closer to that dream in which no one is left behind. For none of us can fully belong until all of us belong.
Dear Beloved Friends,
I am writing to you with news of my upcoming transition in leadership.
As of last week, I accepted an offer to become the Executive Director of Episcopal City Mission (ECM) beginning in April 2016. This is a big transition for Life Together and for me. The transition plan is still forming but will likely include an interim director of Life Together and a more robust hiring process undertaken in the spring/early fall for my successor. We will share further details with you in the new year.
My choice to move to ECM, as you can imagine, was not easy. I had not planned to leave Life Together at this time. Yet as I entered a time of prayer, discernment, and receptivity to imagination, I began to see a beautiful ecosystem, a garden really, of prayerful, prophetic and impactful people and organizations - praying and working for social and economic justice - connecting Christian spiritual practice and community building that enables reconciliation and justice. As I caught this vision for faith-rooted justice in Massachusetts and beyond, my heart opened to possibility. I see Life Together and ECM as existing collaboratively in this same ecosystem, as close partners in this broader web of prayer and action.
I could never leave Life Together if I felt that it was not ready for this transition. We have a very talented and committed staff and Leadership Team, and eight strong Prayer Partners supporting our four intentional communities of fellows. Over the last eight years, and with over 140 alumni, I believe Life Together has developed the organizational and staffing infrastructure, as well as deep confidence in God’s calling, to continue and deepen the work. And I intend to stay in close relationship.
Please pray for me and Life Together staff, Leadership Team, Prayer Partners, and fellows as we live into this new reality. I feel very confident about our next step and will also depend on your prayers.
I am so thankful for each you and for your contribution to Life Together. I look forward to seeing you at Love Matters on Saturday, May 14th at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul's, as well as at other events in the months ahead, for a celebration of our past and future.
Have a blessed and joy-filled Christmas,
The Reverend Arrington Chambliss
Architects, artists, and builders have given reminders all around us to bring us back to the real reasons we are here. When Jesus and God are the purpose and cornerstone for any space, no matter where it is, no matter what it’s made of, no matter if there are elaborate tile patterns on the floor or ceiling, the spirit of the space will never be destroyed. When our foundation is rooted, nothing can separate us from the eternal love that is given from God.
As we move into the season of Advent, a time of preparation, contemplation, and anticipation of God entering our world, I have been working on staying attuned to the many ways in which God does enter the world and our lives each week and each day. I spent this past Thursday at the annual Thanksgiving meal hosted by MANNA at our Cathedral.
This past October, the South Coast Fellows had a wonderful Neighborhood Outreach event. The day began with the possibility of rain and cold weather, but God came through and the event was a huge success with no rain and warm temperatures. We were not sure at first how many people would come out, but we ended up having thirty-five of our neighbors in attendance.
I planned my move without any hesitation. Now, my initial reason for moving to this location was a very superficial, of course, but thank goodness God always finds a way to work miracles out of whatever we offer her to work with. In my case, I was thrown into my first experience with an intentional community—although no one there would have used that phrasing.
In the Jewish and Christian traditions, the story of Jonah is a popular one. It is often told to us as children because it’s so charming and relatable– there’s action in the storm, humor in Jonah’s preposterous predicament of being swallowed by a giant sea creature, and ultimately forgiveness and redemption for all involved, including the Ninevites who hear God’s words through Jonah and turn away from their wickedness.
God spoke loudly to me this past Saturday afternoon. I sat, with my five-year old daughter, on the edge of our 8 x 8 raised garden putting it to bed for the winter. The clearing of yellow and brown leaves revealed six, hidden plants with long green shoots lying flat against the dirt. Surprised and delighted to find a mini harvest just when we thought there was no more, we gathered the bunches of long leaves like ponytails and Vaeh proudly cut the last of the arugula.
My experience with Life Together is intertwined in my life daily. In my role as a case manager for Boston Healthcare for the Homeless and in my home living with my roommates. Life Together taught me the importance of community, communication, compassion, and seeing God in everyone you meet. I work with some of the most amazing and challenging people I have ever met. I try to make every client I work with feel like they are apart of my community. Life Together has given me the strength and the patience to see past people's initial hesitancy to trust someone they don't know. I currently live with two of my roommates from the Life Together house I lived in and we still use some of our old house rules. We have weekly house dinners and meetings to keep connected.
On the third Friday of October 2015, beloved Orientation trainer Jerry Koch Gonzalez returned to share another day of training and practice in Nonviolent Communication with Life Together fellows and staff. The day opened with small group meditations on emotional needs and the ways in which those needs impact our lives. Those meditations grounded large and small group sessions and activities to help articulate the four components of nonviolent communication: observations, feelings, needs, and requests. The morning session closed with the group observing a modelling of the nonviolent communication process with two fellows processing a real shared experience.
