Posts tagged Epworth Project
The Cochran House

The Cochran House, an MWF Epworth House
by
Justin Hancock

Dear Friends,

The residents of Cochran House have spent the last several weeks out in the garden, clearing away grass and weeds and turning the earth in preparation for planting both winter and spring seeds. It occurs to me that this is very much like what we have been doing as a community in relating to both our neighborhood and our anchor church.

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Holding Loosely

Holding Loosely
by Melissa Turkett, 
Epworth House resident

Melissa here (of the Susanna Wesley "Swesley" House Epworth community). Over the last year and half or so we have been fully engaged in the work of urban farming, ending food deserts, and creative imagining of food forests at the Swesley house.

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Beyond Buildings

Our Common Experience with God: Beyond Buildings
The Wesleyan Quadrilateral, Week 7
by
Adam White

“The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is a people.”

We all have heard this familiar song.

Ironically, and let me know if I am off base here, we only hear this song sung in churches. Today, as a collective body seeking to experience Christ together, the “church” is having an identity crisis. 

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The Holy Middle

There is something humbling and sacred about opening your doors and sitting at the table every week alongside the least of these. At Bonhoeffer House (a Missional Wisdom Epworth House), we gather with our homeless, low income, disabled, and homesick (immigrants) friends and neighbors for conversation, meal, and prayers for those who wish to join. I don’t know of any other space in Dallas where such a strange group of people would ever gather together as a family.

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San Luis Valley

San Luis Valley Summer Internship Reflection
by Amber Oxley

Hi y’all! My name is Amber Oxley and I am the house steward of the St. Francis House in Dallas, Tx. I joined the Missional Wisdom community three years ago in this house. We’ve experienced transition and joyful ministry in the house with various residents since we began with the support of Lakewood United Methodist Church three years ago this August. Last summer, I was given an opportunity to serve in a pastoral internship in the Rocky Mountain Conference.

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Street Jesus...

Square Soul
Manager, minister at CitySquare has a new mission


Byron's Lens: "Street Jesus" Finds Grace Under Pressure
By Byron Harris, as printed on WFAA.com


*Jonathan Grace resided in the Bonhoeffer House, a part of Missional Wisdom Foundations' Epworth Project, for three years.

Jonathan Grace stands out in a crowd. He’s an imposing presence, tall enough that when he walks into a room you notice him. He’s also got shoulder-length hair and a beard, that’s the other reason he catches your eye. He’s usually wearing jeans, a open-necked shirt and work boots and bears a strong resemblance to Leonardo Da Vinci’s depiction of Jesus in The Last Supper. Your first reaction is: what’s up with this guy?

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Gifts for the Common Good...

Gifts for the Common Good of the Spirit
The Rule of Life, Week 9
by
Adam White

We will use our spiritual gifts, talents and abilities to serve God within and beyond this community
     -From the
MWF Rule of Life

There are natural gifts and then there are learned gifts. If you ever wanted to find a way to understand what your natural gifts are and what gifts you can develop, then intentional monastic community is the place for you!

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Harvest Time

Harvest Time
by Maria Bergh, former resident of the
Epworth project

As fall finally settles in and the harvest slows, I find myself grateful. My summer months were spent on Mustard Seed Community Farm, a part of the Catholic Worker Movement. This began during the Great Depression when a journalist named Dorothy Day met a teacher named Peter Maurin and they started talking and publishing their vision.

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The Paloma House

The Paloma House, a part of the Epworth Project
By House Steward and Resident, Lauren Roepken

At The Paloma house in Arlington, TX we outreach directly to the women at The Wesley at The University of Texas at Arlington. Every Monday evening we have a group of about 20 women (yes you read that right - 20 college women in one house) over for dinner, dessert, games, and a beautiful time of fellowship. 

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Mutual Accountability

The Struggle and Grace of Mutual Accountability
The
Rule of Life, Week 4
by
Adam White

We live in a world that struggles with accountability. The kind of accountability being addressed here can be defined as the sacred thread of mutual support that pierces through our individual self, others, and God. Our struggle with accountability though, really shouldn’t come as a surprise or shock us.

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Praying

Praying in a Variety of Forms
The
Rule of Life, Week 3
by
Adam White

We will use a variety of forms of prayer
     - From the
MWF Rule of Life

The wonderful thing about prayer is that every person will bring to it her or his own unique emphasis, style, and rhythm. Bringing these individual practices into a house or group of persons who come together in prayer offers an intriguing and, at the same time, challenging space to embrace. Questions begin to arise like, “How do I personally and passionately connect to God while sharing with others?”

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Bonhoeffer House

Bonhoeffer House
by
Ryan Klinck

Bonhoeffer House, an Epworth House in East Dallas, has been going through a transformation this past summer. One of the original members and the house steward of the house, Adam White, transitioned out of the house to be married (hooray!) at the beginning of the summer. The remaining members began to pay attention and pray together about this new season the house found itself in.

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The Epworth Project

The Epworth Project
by
Ryan Klinck

The past few months for the Epworth Project have been a full experience. Back in May, the spiritual formation team who oversees Epworth sat down and revamped the application process for bringing people into the houses. This process included bringing new aspects of discernment into the interviewing process and once the new residents were welcomed into the home. During the summer, the staff had the pleasure of interviewing and accepting ten new residents into our houses!

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Receiving and Offering Grace...

Receiving and Offering Grace With One Another
The Missional Community as a Means of Grace, Week 6
by
Adam White

Jesus Christ practiced radical hospitality.

What does it mean to practice “radical hospitality?”

For Christ and the disciples, it meant relying upon the hospitality of others to fulfill their service and missional life. Within three of the four Gospels, Christ givesauthority to the disciples and sends them out without means or resources, asking them to rely upon the hospitality of strangers to fulfill their mission (Matthew 10:6-16, Mark 6:6b-13, Luke 9:1-6).

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Every Day...

Every Day is a Pilgrimage
by Maria Bergh, former resident of the
Epworth Project

Every day the sun makes a pilgrimage across the sky and, cognizant or not, we follow. Preoccupied by daily tasks, it is hard to sense the direction and speed we are traveling. But with a little grace and intentionality we can draw out the patterns and rhythms and see our lives as a pilgrimage homeward to God.

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