Order of St. James - 08/09

So what is the Order of St. James up to this year? We met for the first time early in the school year and decided that we'd like to just run this whole thing as a covenant group for the year. So we're not trying to figure out all the details. We're just diving in and trusting the Holy Spirit to lead us as we go. We're meeting every other week for a potluck and conversation at a different person's house. Each meeting we focus on one of the marks of this group: simplicity, hospitality, evangelism. So here's our meeting schedule for those who are interested in joining us:

Sept 25 @ 6-8PM – Klopp’s House
Oct 9 @ 6-8PM – Bowles’ House
Oct 23 @ 6-8PM – Anyone want to host?
Nov 6 @ 6-8PM – Klopp’s House
Nov 20 @ 6-8PM – Bowles’ House
Dec 4 @ 6-8PM – Isaiah House

If you've got questions, email me: tom@saraharthur.com.

Methodist Benedictine Monastery

Someone who was reading our blog emailed me about this Methodist Benedictine Monastery. Again, I thought it might be of interest to what we're doing.

http://www.janrichardson.com/saintbrigidmonastery

Junky Car Club

I came across this website today. Thought it might be of interest to what we're doing.

http://www.virb.com/junkycarclub

Local Pastors

I met with my candidacy mentor today and shared with him this idea about the Order of St. James. He asked a question I have yet to be asked. What of Local Pastors? Its a good question. So I wanted to throw it up here so that we remembered to discuss it next semester.
Hope everyone is having a good summer living simply, offering hospitality, and sharing the good news.

We've Hit the Blog-o-Sphere

Check out Andrew Thompson's comments on our proposal.

Living Wage Calculator

Nick brought to our attention a great website that puts this proposal in perspective and offers another way to figure our potential income. Here it is. Its a living wage calculator.

Agenda for 08-09 School Year

Our fledgling group met today to discuss what we needed to talk about next year. Here's what we came up with in the order that they came up (and not necessarily by order of priority):

1. Connection to other groups/movements (Order of St. Luke, Benedictines, Neo-monastics, UMW Monastery, etc.)
2. What to do with debt?
3. Roles (exploratory, novice, etc.)
4. What do with excess money?
5. How to navigate the boundary between hospitality and the parsonage?
6. What are the various forms of hospitality?
7. Should a rule or covenant be specific and detailed or broad and general?
8. What to do when a spouse doesn't "buy in"?
9. How to plan for children's colleges, emergencies, or big expenses?
10. What should an average budget look like?
11. Does the "minimum" conference salary have any room for negotiation? (i.e. more children, graduated tithe?)
12. How would we support one another within the order itself (emergencies, etc.)?
13. How will we navigate the large geographic distances between us?
14. Will there be annual meetings and what will they look like?
15. How will we handle accountability?
16. Sharing Tips for simple living
17. Beginning now to be transparent with our personal budgets
18. A theology of evangelism, making disciples, witness
19. How to witness to the church as a whole?
20. What would lay-chapters look like?
21. What would non-UMC chapters look like?

And then very practically
1. We will meet bi-weekly next school year at one another's homes for potluck dinners
2. We will share the responsibility of writing/authoring a covenant

Did I miss anything?