Introducing the Metanoia Peace Community members of 2012.

We are a work in progress and so is this online post.

BETH

Who am I?  I’m a mother, a math and science teacher, a member of a spiritual community, a musician, a seeker of God.

Why am I a Metanoia Member?  I believe that following God is meant to be done in small groups of people who share their lives.  I believe in shared resources, shared struggles, shared worship, shared prayer, and shared space.

What draws me?  Being part of Metanoia means that someone always has my back- emotionally, financially, spiritually, physically.

What keeps me here?  I have been part of this community for 15 years now.  I am used to the idea that if I want something to happen in my community, I’m responsible to make it happen.

   I have been fully steeped in participatory worship and organization.  It would feel weird now to be in a building where the focus is linear and directional (towards the front of a sanctuary where someone is providing church “for” me), instead of circular and interactive.  Worship service means coming with all that I am and all that I am experiencing, sharing that, and receiving perspective and other viewpoints from the lives of whoever is in the room that week.

   In addition to worship, being a member of Metanoia means being responsible for the spiritual life and the physical needs of the whole community.  That includes member meetings, business meetings (community council), and small life group meetings (covenant groups).  Church is something that happens all week, not just a few hours on Sunday.  

   In addition, I like being in a place where I am challenged to think outside my self, my family, my community, and to actively work for change and peace in the broader world. 

DARRELL

I'm Darrell DuBois and have been attending Metanoia Community Peace Church, UMC for about 26 years now.  What attracted me to Metanoia was my search for a Spiritual Community that valued transparency and accountability as important values.
AsI hung around Metanoia and the Peace House, the more convinced I became that I had found a Spiritual home.  The covenant groups with their inherent openess, vulnerability, and accountability along with its mission oriented bent are what keeps me coming back.

SHANNON

Homeschool mom, professional counselor, organic veggie gardener, urban chicken keeper-that's part of who I am.  I also appreciate a sense of humor and creativity.  I use the research on relationships to guide my input with couples and communities and frankly, to keep my own marriage (16 plus years) on the happy, long lasting path.

 My view of how most people listen (or don't) to each other is rather radical-but totally research based.  Listening with curiosity-something we actively practice at Metanoia among the membership when we meet up in "Relational Meetings," short weekly meetings in twos where we take turns talking and listening deeply about our own experiences.  I launched these listening appointments in our community in 2010, with a switch in partners every month or 2. 

  Church is not a place I feel drawn to.  It took me years to feel ok about becoming a member-I just wasn't one who really could get behind joining a church.  Mostly due to the arrogance of the churches I had known the most growing up while they created more pain and misery for the gender diverse, I could not get behind supporting that.  I had some experience as a youngster in evangelical Calvary Chapels which in the end-left me trying to stay as far away from church as I could.  I wanted to be with folks who asked questions-not that had all the answers even if they didn't fit.

Metanoia Peace Community attracted me because of how they gave away all their money at the end of each year (What- a church on a shoestring budget that doesn't beg for money AND has extra to share?).  But the first thing that grabbed me was the actions that backed up the values they promoted-that of relieving suffering of the world, be it feeding hundreds weekly for decades at Hard Times' Supper, refusing to support the war machine (and some redirecting their war tax to local government), or making a safe place for gay, lesbian, transgendered and their allies to do their spiritual practice.  Because religion has been a source of oppressing the gender diverse, and creating a lot of hurt and destruction as a result, I think this is always a huge deal when a church makes a point of challenging and working to right this particular oppression.  Metanoia has quite a history of challenging the denomination about this-again putting action to the values.

  I learned from my days at Church In Ocean Park, in Santa Monica, CA for about 13 years, another radical United Methodist Church, that we can make church into what we need-a place to find our own way, to turn visions of ideal community into reality, and to do so while in a multifaith or even just exploring and unaffiliated context.  At Metanoia, we are in the process of doing that and have taken radical to another aspect of the essential focus that I like to say Jesus was all about in my best estimation.  We make commitments to each other that we will care for each other-that I will look at what I have and say, "hmm, i have an extra box of detergent and you are on food stamps-here take mine."   Caring at Metanoia is not just words-but things like, meeting every week in small groups of 3 or 4 to check in and support each other (AKA Covenant Groups), creating a medical fund where a portion of all donations goes into a communal pot to help each other with unmet medical needs, showing up for each other's special events, or even when we need a shoulder to cry on after an especially hard day.

More recently as the Lay Leader (a denominational term for the elected members' liason and community builder), it has meant a lot to me to be able to ask individuals to take on making Sunday Service presentations, or inviting their special guests in the last year.  As a result we have had an introduction to Buddhism and practicing various meditations, a challenge to rascism, a Henri Nouwen series, a NY Eve where nearly all the members had a few minutes to present, an introduction to Islam and finding our common ground, Occupy Portland, and more.  To me this is the gardening of shared leadership-of growing our voices and being known to each other while listening with curiosity.  Metanoia is like that-welcoming and growing in our compassion for each other and the world.