Serving and discerning
-- on $100 a month
by Alison Witty, Jon Erdman and Jeff Huston

In the summer of 2000 the first class of interns arrived at Resurrection House, a ministry that the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection created to provide recent college graduates with the opportunity to spend a year living in community and working on personal discernment issues. With the help of the Diocese of Nebraska, the Hitchcock Foundation, and lots of dedicated parishioners, the people of Church of the Resurrection had turned their old church rectory into a home for three or four interns. The hope was to bring talented young people to serve in an urban setting where help was needed, and to enable those same people to get a first-hand look at Christian ministry from different perspectives. We tried to find folks who sensed at least the possibility of a calling to serve in ordered ministry, hoping that some might decide to become priests in the church.

There are three parts to the intern's work-week. Twenty hours a week of service in a local church -- doing church-based ministry in an Episcopal setting. Then 10 hours a week working in some kind of gritty, urban outreach ministry. And finally, 10 hours a week of community building, including personal spiritual direction, worship, personal prayer and community meetings.

Sidebar: Not looking for the 'normal thing'

Spiritual direction is a key part of the program. It is a wonderful help that our spiritual director is a veteran of community living herself and so knows the kinds of issues that the interns are facing. The whole program is set against a backdrop of very simple living. The interns get less than a $100 a month on which to live, plus a modest food allowance for the whole house. We knew that simple living was a hallmark of most successful Christian communities and so we asked the interns to sign a covenant before they came to Omaha: no monetary gifts, no loans, no jobs on the side. They were challenged to live for nine months as simply and lightly as possible, even to the extent of depending upon the church members to help provide some meals and transportation.

My impression is that the simple living aspect of the program has been one of the great challenges -- and great blessings -- for the interns. They are consistently declining financial help from well-meaning family members, friends and even church members. And they have made very intentional decisions to keep their lives uncluttered. They have no TV; they use the local library for computer access; at Christmas, most of the gifts they gave they crafted themselves. The simple living has focused their prayer-life and their community life in a powerful way. And I know it has enabled them to experience how doing ministry has many rewards, even if they are not necessarily financial in nature.

-- Scott Barker, Vicar, Episcopal Church of the Resurrection, Omaha, Neb.

Alison Witty: Simple living is more than our poverty

Simple living is not always easy. There are some days I would like nothing more than to come home, put on my pajamas, and watch television all night long, but we don't have a TV. ...

There are some days that I would like nothing better than a treat from Dairy Queen, but I don't have the money. ...

Some days I wonder if I'll have enough money to buy the essentials, but I always do.

I have learned that there is a lot more to simple living than our poverty. Living simply means putting our priorities straight. It means feeling the reward of loving Christ in all persons.

As we were developing guidelines for our community at the beginning of our year here, we agreed to celebrate the Eucharist together once a week with our director. We have all found a certain pleasure in gathering around our own dining room table to celebrate Christ's last meal. Since we are celebrating in our own home, we use whatever bread we have in the cupboard. Our source of the Body of Christ always has a bit more flavor than the wafer normally used on Sundays. We have used wheat, sun-dried tomato, even cinnamon raisin on occasion. What this has really come to symbolize for me is the diversity of the Body of Christ. Mother Teresa has been quoted as feeling lucky to serve Christ in his "distressing disguise" as the poorest of the poor. Our communion bread reminds me that Jesus is in all of us -- in fact, could be any of the people I serve.

Volunteering in a homeless shelter sure affords me the opportunity to see many distressing disguises. To me, living simply means being ready and willing to serve Christ in anyone, anywhere, as God calls us to do, not letting our own desires get in the way. For what we do for the least of these, we do for Christ Himself. It's that simple.

Jon Erdman: What is mine alone?

"All we are and all we have are not ours, but God's, and we are simply stewards of what we have been entrusted." In my experience, this statement is at the heart of living simply. It also is one of the hardest to take to heart. So many of the things I have, I feel I have worked hard to get. I have put in many hours of work, care and thought, and I have looked on some of "my" belongings as rewards for the work I have done. But they are not mine. I alone could never have gotten any of them -- or anything, for that matter. God has given me everything.

So how has that affected my life? For a start, my life has been less cluttered.

One of the first acts of letting go of my things was packing to come to the Resurrection House program. I was only able to take two carry-on bags and two tubs in baggage. So, to start out, I did not bring much. It was hard to choose what to bring. As I look back on it, it did help me set my priorities. Much of what frivolous things I had come to acquire during my life did not accompany me. Only what I needed, then a few Bibles, a chess board, a few pictures, a few CDs, a few books, and a few other items. What is important really changed when it all had to fit in two bags and two boxes. It was freeing to see how little I actually needed.

Packing was a great way of setting my priorites, but just cutting down on the amount I have is not, for me, the most important part of living simply. Fewer belongings is a way to an understanding, but it is not the only way to that understanding. That understanding, is the attitude that I have in my heart about what is "mine." What is mine alone? Nothing. Everything is God's. That understanding is, for me, the heart of living simply.

The change in heart is what is important to me. How I share what I have, instead of regarding it as "mine." That change in heart led me to the question, "Why did God give this to me, and how does God want me to use it?" Much of the way I used to act has changed because of asking myself that question. I have been more willing to give my time, my energy and my things to help other people. The largest blessing that I have been given by living simply has been becoming closer to God. After coming to the realization that all has been given to me in love and I should also give in love, I have grown closer to the Almighty God who is love, who said "Love one another, as I have loved you. That my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete."

Jeff Huston: What you add, not deny

When I first found out that I had been accepted into the Resurrection House program my head started spinning in search of an explanation of simple living. I wondered if I could bring a personal CD player. I must have thought that bringing a discman might compromise my agreement to enter a simple community. In all honesty, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

Upon arrival in Omaha, I remember thinking to myself as my roommates and I entered our unfurnished house, "This simple living thing is ridiculous!" However, when we returned from our opening retreat, our house was completely furnished -- beds, two love seats, a coffee table and a full dining room set, not to mention the various knicknacks for the kitchen and a set of pots and pans. The gifts continued pouring in and we soon found ourselves with more than we ever thought we could possibly need. Our initial abundance of household items spawned our favorite phrase, "It depends on your definition of simple!"

Fast-forward six months and I'm sitting here in Wahoo, Neb., in the middle of our six-day silent retreat. Here, in a very real way, I've come to the realization that living simply isn't entirely about my possessions or lack thereof. Granted, it feels great railing against the absurdity of our market-driven economy; simplicity, I've found, is not about what you deny but what you add. Of course we don't need that third TV or the new SUV; what we need more than anything is God. And not just the Sunday morning fix we're prone to accepting as our "end of the bargain." What we need is a real relationship with God, one steeped in prayer and openness to God's presence in our life.

This week has afforded me the opportunity to be in constant communion with God in nature, Scripture, meditation, reflection and prayer. How often on any given day do we take time "to be" with God? My roommates and I are blessed in that we share two worship times each day (even though morning prayer comes at 6:30 a.m. twice a week.). It is our communion with God that we share as a community, as well our individual time with God that allows us to claim a Christ-centered, simple community. It is our focus on God's presence in our lives that backs up our bold claim of simplicity in this complex world.

So there you have it, my musings and reflections on simple living. Do I see a future as the next new-age guru on how to change lives? For your sake as well as my own, no. But I will leave you with my working definition (to date) of simple living: Simple because my focus is on God's presence in my heart and with us at Resurrection House. Simple because I'm trying to keep up with God and not the Joneses. l

For more information on Resurrection House contact <fatherscott@uswest.net>.

Not looking for the 'normal thing'
by Ruth Monette

Envision the mother of all reality television, MTV's The Real World. Take away the cameras, the glitz, and the large paychecks. Shift the work assigned the housemates from media-based productions to social-service-related positions with local non-profits. Assume that those responsible for choosing participants actually look for people who will get along together and avoid those likely to cause significant problems. Do all this and you have the Episcopal Urban Intern Program (EUIP). The EUIP is a year-long internship program located in Los Angeles where young adults live in Christian community and work full-time with populations such as the homeless, abused children, at-risk youth, and people living with HIV/AIDS.

When I graduated from college in June of 1999, I had only three goals. The Episcopal Urban Intern Program allowed me to accomplish all three. In August of that year, I took a road trip, driving from upstate New York (where I had attended Hobart and William Smith Colleges) to California. I moved to a place I had never been before -- Los Angeles. And I was guaranteed a year without snow. While accomplishing these three things was high on my "what to do after college list," what really attracted me to the Episcopal Urban Intern Program was the chance to spend a year figuring out my life.

In one way or another, each of my fellow interns joined the EUIP for the same reason. Three were there with plans to attend graduate or professional schools in the near future (seminary, law school and medical school). The fourth was fairly sure that her passion was at-risk youth, but wanted to test that. And then there was me -- a little less focused, but interested in exploring all the options.

Our year in the Episcopal Urban Intern Program had three foci: our worksites, our community life and our spiritual lives. Each of us was placed in a full-time social service-related position with a non-profit agency in the Los Angeles area. We worked with the homeless, people living with HIV/AIDS, abused children, at-risk youth and a campus ministry on an urban campus (my placement). The jobs were stressful -- emotionally and spiritually and sometimes physically. They were also deeply rewarding.

At the end of our workdays, we returned to the former rectory at Holy Faith Episcopal Church in Inglewood for "community time." We ate dinner together at least once a week. We met in a group with the program's coordinator. As I would explain to college friends who choose more traditional paths, one of the hardest things about moving to a new city is making friends ... but my new friends came built into my move.

That is not to say that it was easy. The struggle of living in community -- honoring each person's uniqueness while establishing appropriate limits -- was one of the most difficult aspects of the program. We had to look beyond each other's annoying traits, get past who didn't do their dishes or who hogged all the computer time. In truth, community life was particularly rough for us. We were not able to resolve all of our differences and we struggled until the last day to feel a sense of success about our community. However, each of us made lasting friendships during our year together and I think each of us learned a great deal about having healthy relationships with the people we live with.

Intertwined with our community life was our spiritual life -- individually and collectively. The program asked us to become active members of our sponsoring parish -- Holy Faith, a multi-cultural urban parish like no other any of us had attended. We sang in the choir, taught Sunday School and worshipped with the parish. Additionally, as a community we met regularly for "spiritual time," alternating between Bible studies and prayer. We each met individually with the program's coordinator to discuss our worksites, the community life and our spiritual journeys.

I got more than I expected out of the EUIP -- life-long friendships, a job I love, and a sense of direction for the next few years, at least. As a former intern from the first year of the program puts it, "If you don't know quite what you want to do with your life, but you know it ain't the normal thing ... this is the program for you."

-- For more information on the Episcopal Urban Internship Program contact <www.euip.org>.