Once and for all, What is the House?

The Simple House is literally a house.  It will be a large house with many rooms in the inner-city of Columbus.  These rooms will be made available to people who wish to live in intentional community and wish to give 100% of their time and resources to good works.

The Simple House is a place where people can go who want to work in the inner-city without having to worry about the constraints of a job and traditional responsibilities as long as they are willing to cast off materialism and individualism as well.

The Simple House will be a ministry center.  Many people come together, and it’s simply the take-off point from which to conduct their own ministry.

The formal structure of this organization will be a non-profit limited liability corporation.  The purpose of the LLC is to provide liability and tax protection for those willing to partake in this lifestyle.

Those with a ministry in mind can come to find a place to do it, 100%, and find support in the others there for help and direction.  And those without a ministry can come to support those that do.

Whether for a lifetime or a year, The Simple House will be a place for people to come together to find ways to commit ourselves 100% to God’s work.

*By good works we mean outward focused, loving endeavors—ministries, missions, charities, etc.

----How it works----

The LLC buys the house.

Brad and Melissa live in the house all the time.  Other community members can come and go.

The LLC pays to maintain the house, pays for utilities, pays for groceries, pays for all that stuff.

Those that live in the house contribute to the LLC according to its needs.

People living in the house can work freelance jobs or regular jobs, but are expected to contribute monetarily, at the level to which they are capable.

There is no set amount or percentage to contribute.  The operating expenses are so low that it’s not an issue, but each house member will be counseled as to how much they are capable of contributing.

There is a social expectation that community members put other funds towards their own and each other’s good works.

People living in the house are expected to be a part of outward focused good works.

People living in the house share resources and live in voluntary poverty to allow more resources for good works.

To begin with, Brad and Melissa will be “in charge”, insomuch as they have “the final say"and some degree of supervision, only by merit of commitment and permanent status.  Over time, more members will be added to this council, as they in turn decide to make a greater commitment.

Community members may live in the house for 1 day to 1 lifetime.

If, at any point, the Simple House LLC dissolves, current house members will be given a reasonable wage to resettle, and the remaining funds will be distributed to domestic and overseas ministries.

----Specific Ministries----

These are the specific good works that will be undertaken as soon as the house is occupied:

Free Tutoring—After school tutoring for local children

Community Enrichment—Neighborhood beautification, hospitality

Community Garden—Large scale, off-location community garden

Spiritual Growth

There will be much more going on.  But these are specific ministries that we believe are reasonable and practical for our first year in operation.

That’s it!

Comments

pretty cool. me likee.