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Detroit Villages

"It takes many villages to raise a church."

More and more people are interested in being the body of Christ for the world in a different way than some of our traditional Christian congregations. So, with a grant from the New Church Start Committee of the Detroit Annual Conference of the UMC we are looking to become a laboratory for a new grassroots effort of planting organic missional communities within the City of Detroit.

Below is a description of what these communities will be. We look forward to helping plant 2-3 of them in the City of Detroit each year for the next few years.

Detroit Villages residents are:

  • Persons living Christian lives of service and who see their local neighborhoods and the people in them as the most basic cells of Christ's body the church.
  • Persons interested in relocating to the City of Detroit or those already living in the city who feel called to live in a new intentional network of Christian villages.
  • Persons who value diverse communities: young and old, rich and poor, multi-ethnic, as a means by which God builds us up, challenges us, and makes God's kingdom real on earth.
  • Person who secure their own housing and have their own "tentmaking" jobs, but who also feel called to the work of neighborhood-based Christian discipleship and community development.

Detroit Villages residents will:

  • Develop a covenantal agreement with each other and with residents of other houses for living intentionally.
  • Get to know their neighbors - paying careful attention to both the needs and assets of the community.
  • Practice living a Christian missional life together with house mates and neighbors.
  • Join in ongoing discernment about how Detroit Villages micro-grants are distributed among village participants.
  • Join in sharing the stories of your Village through the emergedetroit.org web site.
  • Share each house/village's gifts and talents at a monthly "public meeting." This will be a common meal, worship service, and conversation time for all those involved in home communities ("new residents" and neighbors alike).

Please email Carl with the email tab above for more information or with questions.

Detroit Villages: Thoughts from Krista Dover

Christian Community?

Detroit Villages: Thoughts from Lydia Wylie-Kellermann

Detroit Villages: What is Christian Community (in your own words)?

Lydia Wylie-Kellermann: A Christian community is a group of people who commit intentionally to one another and the broader community who are struggling together with the questions of discipleship in their current context. As they say, reading the Gospel in one hand and the newspaper in the other. We take the Gospel and ask the questions for our own lives and our current historical moment.

DV: Why is community important?

Detroit Villages: Thoughts from Nate Van Noord

christian community is an group of people intentionally:
a. sharing resources with each other and their neighbors (food, homes, money, abilities, etc.)
b. practicing spiritual disciplines together (prayer, singing, bible study, etc)

community is important because it:
a. refines us and exposes our sin and weaknesses (similar to marriage)
b. causes us to liver simpler and be more generous with our resources
c. breaks us out of our individualistic, isolated lives and mindsets (it is just more fun to share life with folks)

Film Night: Rethink Afghanistan

Feb 23 2010 7:30pm

4689 Larkins,
Detroit, MI 48210

Clarification of Thought: Arts for Justice

Feb 18 2010 7:30pm

Please bring a poem, song, dance, reading in celebration of the ways that art gives voice to the cry of grief, work of movement, and necessity of joy. Come, share, listen, be.

This is a Jeanie-Wylie community event and will be at:

4689 Larkins,
Detroit, MI 48210

Documentary Night

Jan 26 2010 7:30pm

This month's film at the Jeanie Wylie house is Why We Fight. It offers a pretty in depth investigation into America's "Miltary Industrial Complex". There will be tea, snacks, at conversation afterward.

Jeanie Wylie House
4689 Larkins, Detroit, MI 48210.

February Detroit Villages Community Celebration

Feb 27 2010 6:00pm

"Unfortunately, most of the major denominations still practice segregation in local churches, hospitals, schools, and other church institutions. It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o'clock on Sunday morning, the same hour when many are standing to sing: "In Christ There Is No East Nor West." ~Martin Luther King, Jr., Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, 1958

Detroit Villages Community Celebration

Jan 30 2010 6:00pm

Come out for the first Community Celebration of 2010. This month will take the format of a roudtable discussion. We anticipate this conversation to set the tone for the next year, so its really important that you come out and share your thoughts! We'll be discussing how we relate to God, to one another, and to our neighbors (and the wider world). We'll talk about our current practices and also the things that we know are important, but we don't do so well. We'll be exploring this not as isolated individuals, but in the context of living life together.

Detroit Villages Covenant Circle POSTPONED

Jan 27 2010 7:00pm

Join us this month as we continue our exploration together about biblical covenants. These gathering are for people living in Detroit with an interest in intentional community and incarnational ministry. We are in the process of exploring what our covenant with one another should look like and how we can support one another better.

This month We'll be meeting at the Jeanie Wylie House in Southwest Detroit: 4689 Larkins, Detroit, MI 48210

We usually eat and talk, so please bring something to share. Thanks.

Call Jeremy if you'd like more info: 313-576-7818

Shootin the Breeze

Shootin the Breeze

Darcy and Suzanne shooting the breez.

DV Community Gathering - 3rd

DV Community Gathering - 3rd

Last but not least.

DV Community Gathering - November 2

DV Community Gathering - November 2

Moving around the room.

DV Community Gathering - November

DV Community Gathering - November

Suzanne, Jeremy, Ralh, Jess, and Anna listening to Jim Perkinson (some while knitting.)

Detroit Villages Covenant Circle

Dec 16 2009 7:00pm

This is our smaller Detroit Villages meeting, for those living in the city and desiring to share a covenant commitment with one another. This month we'll be meeting at Krista's house:

7281 Whitaker
Detroit, MI 48209

We're going to explore the idea of covenant in scripture. We hope that can give us some understanding as we talk about what a covenant between us might look like.

This event is open for those interested in forming and being part of this covenant.

Detroit Villages Community Celebration

Dec 19 2009 7:00pm

Join us for our monthly conversation about Christian intentional community, and living in the city. We gather around 7pm and begin with a potluck. Please bring a dish to share and readiness for conversation. Due to the proximity to Christmas, we thought it would be nice to have a little Christmas party of sorts. We'll still be having some sort of conversation, but it would also be nice to sing carols together and celebrate the coming birth of our Lord. The Ailanthus house will be hosting this month's gathering:

4480 Garvin St.
Detroit, MI

Clarification of Thought

Dec 15 2009 7:30pm

The Jeanie Wylie Community invites you to a Clarification of Thought:

ISRAEL TO PALESTINIANS, IS IT APARTHEID? A conversation with Hasan Newash, director of Palestine Office-Michigan

Tea and snacks provided. All are welcome! 4689 Larkins, Detroit, MI 48210. Email or call (313) 595-1967 if you need more info.

Film: Poletown Lives!

Dec 9 2009 7:30pm

The Jeanie Wylie Community invites you to a Documentary Night: Poletown Lives! Tea and snacks provided. All are welcome! 4689 Larkins, Detroit, MI 48210. Email or call (313) 595-1967 if you need more info.

Detroit Villages Monthly Celebration - NOVEMBER

Nov 28 2009 7:00pm - 10:00pm

Saturday November 28th will be our monthly Community Celebration.

Detroit Villages is a covenant of Christian communities and individuals living intentionally in the city of Detroit (and Hamtramck/Highland Park). Our monthly celebrations are a time for us to gather together to share food, what's happening in our lives, conversation on issues relevant to our life together in the city, and prayer. This is our time to invite our sisters and brothers that share our heart for the city. We are excited to invite you to this month's gathering!

Covenant House Faith Community (new volunteer house/group)

Faith Community Detroit:

Hey guys, we are a new volunteer program in Detroit(just started Nov '09). We live on-site the Covenant House Michigan property (MLK) and work full-time for the agency in a social-work kind of way. None of us are originally from here and would like to meet other intentional communities and individuals that are like-minded/interested in similar things. Due to security, we probably cannot host events here at our house but we would love to meet up with others in the area.

Conversations at the Jeanie Wylie Community

Conversations at the Jeanie Wylie Community

The folks at the Jeanie Wylie Community are quickly becoming the go to place for conversations on how the save the world, work for justice, and enjoy homemade blondies and ginger ale!