To explain what they are all about, we wrote a document called “Our Life Together.” Here is the contents:

WHAT ARE HUBS?
Hubs are intentional small communities who are engaged in God’s mission as they seek the peace and welfare of their own neighbourhood / context. Hubs will commit to a common life together rooted in place. Together they will seek to live lives of community, freedom, worship, spirit, and truth as a sign that “another world is possible.”

WHY HUBS?
We want to make a deeper commitment to God, each other, and our neighbourhood / city. We want to plant our lives in a context and follow God together there. We want to adopt a simple pattern of attitudes, behaviours, and practices that are a regular routine and are intended to produce a certain quality of life and character. This simple pattern is a rhythm. Think about a percussion section, which seems like a decent metaphor. A percussion section that’s really keyed into a rhythm is transcendent, while an arhythmic percussion section sounds like a car crash. What do we want our lives to sound like together?

WHO ARE HUBS FOR?
Those on a committed journey of discerning, learning and following Christ in a particular neighbourhood / context. Anyone is welcomed to join a hub and will do so through a process of orientation and initial formation.

WHERE WILL HUBS TAKE PLACE?
Peppered throughout the city of London, hubs will meet mostly in homes, but also in pubs, coffee shops, wherever.

HOW WILL HUBS WORK?
We are committed to the following rhythms: 1) Spiritual practices (communion). 2) Mission practices (co-mission). 3) Community practices (community). The ways in which these rhythms get lived out together may change and be shaped so that we may always seek first the reign of God. They are meant to be an evolving, creative expression of the common life we are called to live as members of a hub.

FORMING HUBS.
Please view this entire document as a compass, not a roadmap. We don’t have all the answers. We don’t claim to. Hubs will figure out their own way to be. We, as a leadership team, are simply here to help model, encourage, and facilitate “intentional small communities engaged in God’s mission” however we can. We will host learning parties a few times a year for all those involved in hubs. We will meet regularly with those involved in facilitating local hubs and offer guidance and encouragement and coach. We will offer various resources, including: books, presentations, group exercises, etc. And we will commit to share the larger story of what’s going on as much as we can.

HUB ESSENTIALS.
The following list are things that we believe are necessary components / commitments to a healthy hub:

1) A regular weekly gathering including a meal, prayer, and space for conversation. Committing to a weekly gathering together is a big part of finding a rhythm to this life. We see these being “whole community” gatherings… children, teens, adults, seniors, everybody. We want to re-kindle the craft of community meal preparation and sharing. The conversation times will create a space to engage each other with stories of where we see God working in our lives and the places we find each other (work, school, neighbourhood).

2) Commitment to, and participation in, a shared life together beyond regular gatherings. Forming a community that goes beyond the superficiality of “Hi. How are you? Fine.” takes time and commitment. We need to work at forming deep community together – to loving each other, to giving each other space, etc. We hope to see people intentionally spend their time with members of their hub in such a way that we truly share our lives with each other.

3) Continued exploration of the fact that we all occupy a place, context, and neighbourhood. Context is everything. We need to be constantly reminded that God is at work in the places and spaces and zones where we find ourselves. In discovering what this means, hub members will offer mutual support to one another in bringing the Kingdom to that space, context, or neighbourhood.

4) Awareness of Hillside’s values. We are part of a larger “hub” called Hillside and as part of that larger body we have a collective witness to the city we live in. As such, in everything we do we want to make sure the values of: community, freedom, worship, spirit, and truth guide us. This doesn’t mean hub participants have to be members of Hillside – but an awareness and respect of our collective commitment to these values will be part of any healthy group.

5) Creating a “safe space” for all. This means that we work at ensuring confidentiality (“what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” kind-of-thing). We need to listen each other into free speech so that we might truly reveal ourselves to one another. We must create a place where every single voice is important and the journey we are on together with Christ is respected for where it “is” not where we think it should be.

6) Familiarity with “our life together” document. Just as our values guide Hillside’s decisions as a community, so this paper is intended to shape and form those of us meeting in hubs. Literally “being on the same page” gives us common ground to work from and ensures we’re all starting from the same place.

7) An intentional recognition, appreciation, and encouragement of strengths and needs of the members of the hub. Our life together in a hub is not simply about bringing our strengths, gifts and abilities; bringing that which others might love and affirm. Our life together in a hub involves the slow unfolding of our true selves to one another, which includes our weaknesses and that which we generally hide. In this recognition, appreciation and encouragement, we become whole in grace and service to one another.

8) Shared leadership. Shared Responsibility. There will not necessarily be an assigned facilitator for each hub. Each hub continually discerns their way forward as a group, listening for what Jesus is up to in their midst. Each member of the hub is important in this regard.

9) Be open, and perhaps even intentional, about having non-Hillsiders join your hub. This could be neighbours who don’t identify with or belong to another church or those that do. We want to work together with others as much as we can in order to impact our neighbourhood / context.

HUB RECOMMENDATIONS / SUGGESTIONS.
The following list are things that we believe are not necessary, but certainly helpful components / commitments to a healthy hub:

1) Living in close proximity to one another. We are well aware that there are many factors which make it next to impossible to commit to one another in deep community and formation (eg. busy schedules, proximity, apathy, etc.). We are also aware that affinity is how we generally choose groups to be part of. However, we have a feeling that geography may be a healthier place to start. Proximity to each other, coupled with a commitment to the social, economic, and “spiritual” health of your surrounding neighbourhood speaks to the love that first reached out to us in ways this society is increasingly calling out for.

2) Engaging in some missional projects together. We don’t see hubs being a place to “talk the talk” as much as a place to “walk the walk.” To that end, we believe choosing to work together on any number of initiatives where we believe God is calling us to be a good thing. God may place these opportunities before us – but together we need to respond…

3) Inclusivity of all ages, ethnicities, marital statuses, etc. While there is much comfort, safety and familairty in forming community with those “like us” we believe that an effort to reach beyond our demographic and form groups as visibly diverse as possible paints a glorious picture of the shared humanity and spirit Christ has breathed into us.

4) Arranging child care during times of conversation. Though the presence, gifts and perspective of children is of the utmost importance to a healthy community (as is the case with all members of the hub), practically speaking it can be tough to engage them in the conversational aspect of hubs to the level we feel essential. As such, groups should feel no shame in arranging child care for these moments of your time together. Common pools of cash to cover child minding could easily become a common practice.

5) Only participating in one small community. As a hub grows closer together we foresee the time and investment its members give to each other and their common mission reflected throughout our entire week to a greater and greater extent. We believe that focusing our time and energy (ie. our commitment) to one group / small community in particular will only prove a more balanced and focused approach to living life together. This initiative is not about “doing things” so much as doing them together – and that’s a relationship you can only build with so many people.

6) Between 6 and 12 adults (+ kids) generally works the best for group size. This is a matter of sociology and space as much as it is about anything else. In an age where your social networks can include dozens (if not hundreds) more people than ever before in human history we want groups to be living and breathing connections of humans. Every hub will have it’s own dynamic, but experience shows that once you start passing the 12 or 15 person mark the group’s cohesion begins to break down and form into smaller pockets on it’s own.

Dear Church in North America,

Jesus loves you.

I realize that I am only 12 years old. I don’t have much experience, I don’t have many answers, and I still have so many questions. But I want to share with you something that is important… and also very close to my heart.

I think one of the most important aspects of being the Church is the community we have with each other and with the world. The Church is people, not buildings and programs. It is a network of relationships. We exist within these relationships to worship God and to love one another.

Jesus says in the Bible that we are supposed to love our neighbour. I think about that a lot. So who is our neighbour? Who is my neighbour? I probably ask this question daily.

My neighbour is not just the person that lives in the house next door, or down the street (although, they are all very nice folks), but also people living across the world. It’s children suffering in Africa, children in my own city that don’t have enough to eat, people who are sick in the hospital. My neighbours are the poor. But they are also the rich, the famous; people living in big houses with important jobs. Basically, it seems, everyone is my neighbour. They are all people who God loves.

These are my neighbours. And I am supposed to love them.

Well, today for the purpose of this letter, I want you to consider your neighbour to be the people that we are in relationship with day-to-day. Those who are in our local community.

Here’s where I am coming from: In my church experience – for as long as I can remember – community has been such a major part of church. Ours is in a neighbourhood where many people are in need. Some need food, some need shelter, and some need love.

Our church worship gatherings are in the evening on Sundays. But at least an hour before the gathering officially begins people show up to hang out, catch up on each others weeks, and help set up for the gathering. At the end of the gathering people stay around for what seems like hours connecting, talking, laughing, and supporting each other. Every week after the gathering a bunch of people from church come over to our house to eat, laugh (and, when it’s on, watch ‘The Amazing Race’).

Also, we host Christmas baking parties, Thanksgiving parties, BBQs, and dinners at our house all the time. In fact, my whole life, every time I turn around, there are people over for dinner or we’ve planned a fun night out with friends.

We also have a lot of camping trips, spiritual retreats, and other expeditions with people from our community. Every day is an adventure! It seems as though our lives as a family revolve around being in community. And all of this is Church to me.

Now, according to my dad, this type of community is not necessarily normal for churches these days. That seems weird to me. But shouldn’t it be normal? Isn’t that what Jesus wants? We should care about each other. We should hang out together. We should have people in our homes often and eat with them. It just seems like that is a major ingredient to being the Church.

Why is this so important? Well, community is an important part of being a follower of Jesus, in my perspective.

Jesus was constantly in community. He was always eating and drinking with his friends, followers, and other people too. He did miracles with food and he asked us to remember him when we eat together. Jesus seemed to be about community before a lot of other things… including following all the religious rules.

Jesus was constantly healing people. He healed the sick and the crippled, those with leprosy, the blind, the mute, and plenty more. He didn’t just heal them physically, but he went way beyond that by accepting them, loving them, and forgiving them. And he asked us to do the same thing on his behalf. Acceptance and love can be such powerful things, and are a big part in showing people that God loves and cares for them.

Jesus said that the most important commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and to love your neighbour as yourself.”

“Love your neighbour as yourself.” I think that what he is really saying is that we need to be in deep community with others.

How do we do that?

An important aspect of community is hospitality… which to me is about sharing. To be hospitable means to share ourselves and our resources with others… even complete strangers, warmly, lovingly, and generously. Being hospitable is doing things like: giving someone a place to stay when they need one, having someone over for dinner to get to know them better, cooking a meal for someone who is sick, or even just offering advice to a friend. But it’s also sharing what others offer us, and making a way for their offering to be more important than ours.

There’s a woman that has been part of our church community for a while. She has significant mental health issues. This woman’s hobby is making crafts. She turns everything into a craft! She makes her crafts from other people’s trash. She stitches badges on her clothes, makes buttons, and cards, and scrapbooks. Her favourite thing to do is take photos, though. She takes pictures of the most random places and people, but they turn out amazing. When this woman hands someone a homemade craft or a picture, it makes their day. I love her creativity, even though other people don’t always see its beauty. Sometimes we have to look for the beauty in other people’s offerings.

Community and hospitality should not only be about showing love to people within your church or home, although that is important, but to also reach out to those in your neighbourhood, people who really need it.

If you show hospitality to people, you are showing them that you love them and by doing that, you are showing them that God loves them too. In John 3:18, it talks about how we should love with actions instead of just words. That sounds nice. Hospitality is love. Let’s do that.

Two days later we bought a house in London. We will be moving in mid-June. Here are some pics… let’s call them “before shots”:

( Download )

Elbow: One Day Like This

Keane & K’naan: Stop For A Minute

Gungor: Beautiful Things

This time around the learning party takes place in a local church in London, Ontario that can host a lot more people than in the past… but we will still be limiting the number of people we register, so sign-up soon to avoid disappointment.

You can register by sending us an email with the contact information of those you are registering: pernellgoodyear@gmail.com

For more information click here.

Let’s start with the important stuff. What are three things you love about your Dad?

It’s pretty hard to narrow it down to three, but I’ll try:

1) I love my Dad because he’s a great teacher. He has taught me a lot. He teaches me something new every day, whether it is something about Jesus and the Bible, or he’s coaching me in basketball, or he’s helping me with my homework, or even teaching me a random pop culture fact that I didn’t know.

2) I love his sense of humour. He’s hilarious, and he always makes me laugh, even when all I want to do is cry.

3) I also love my Dad’s creativity. He is great at art, design, music, drama, writing. He inspires me every day to do what I love.

What is life like in grade seven?

Life in grade seven, at least for me, is crazy. I am in middle school and so, this year, we started rotating classes. That’s a big change. You have to get used to moving from class to class and the confusion of sometimes not knowing where you’re supposed to be, and having all of the right supplies for each class. It was hard to get used to, but I am starting to like rotation.

Also, in grade seven the work gets harder. I haven’t gotten too much homework yet, though, so that’s good.

Grade seven is great because there are so many extracurricular activities you can do too. I am currently involved in the “Me to We” group, student council, office helpers, band, library club, and I’m on the basketball team.

Also, I love being the “big kid” at school. The grade sevens and eights are like the kings and queens of the school!

Some bad things about middle school is that there is lots of peer pressure and bullying. But middle school is also good because the teachers are more fun, and the projects are more fun.

How do you feel about the big transition our family is currently in the midst of ?

I think this transition is the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life… and it’s also one of the best. It has been hard for me to think about leaving the things that I’ve known my whole life: to leave Hamilton, our church, my school, and all of my friends. But although it’s been hard, I am also so excited to move forward and go to London and get to live our lives with new people.

I am feeling excited, nervous, happy, glad, and overwhelmed. I love London so far, and I love Hillside and all of the people there. It will be sad to leave Hamilton, and all of my friends, but I am ready to make the move and try something new. In this process of moving to London, I have learned that although it will be hard to leave behind all of the things that I know and love, it will also be great to move and to make new friends and learn new things.

The reason I didn’t speak more often is two-fold, I suppose:

1. We really valued having many voices teaching from the front. “Preaching for all, by all” was a motto we adopted from our friends at 614 Regent Park in Toronto. Over the years, we gave an opportunity to approximately 30 different people to try their hand at teaching. Some of them developed into super-capable teachers. Some of them were really good to begin with. Others… well.. they tried hard.
2. I do not really consider myself much of a teacher. It is certainly not my primary gift. I have to work really hard at teaching, it does not come very easily or naturally for me. And, to be honest, it has been good to empower and coach others to find their voice in teaching. That’s my favourite part of leadership… giving others space to discover their gifts.

Well, in my new role at Hillside, teaching is definitely a larger part of my role. I am, after all, the “teaching pastor.” Part of the role is to establish a teaching team, but I will likely end up doing about two thirds of the teaching on Sundays… at least for the next while.

In October when I started teaching at Hillside, I did four weeks in a row… and I honestly don’t remember ever doing that before in my life. I am not used to that… and in the Fall it was a real challenge for me.

But I have to admit, I have been more and more excited about the process of teaching at this church as time goes on. It’s still a big challenge, but I don’t know, I guess I just really like this church community and I feel like teaching is contributing to the mobilization of the mission there.

Currently, we are working our way through a 15 week series in the book of Luke leading up to Easter. I am finding myself getting more and more excited each week. That’s kind of weird for me… to be excited about teaching. Maybe I am finally finding my teaching groove.

Choosing only ten favourites was hard… but choosing my favourite song by each was actually way harder because I could have chosen several of the songs by most of them that I absolutely love. The list is definitely not definitive.

The deal is, if you are reading this and have your own blog, you should do the same and trackback. Let’s share some love, shall we?

OK, here we go. In no particular order:

1. Weezer | Album: Ratitude | Song: “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To”

2. Mumford & Sons | Album: Sigh No More |Song: “Roll Away Your Stone”

3. Herman Dune | Album: Next Year In Zion | Song: “On A Saturday”

4. Ron Sexsmith (Sexsmith & Kerr) | Album: Destination Unknown | Song: “Listen”

5. Cake | Album: Showroom of Compassion | Song: “Sick Of You”

6. Derek Webb | Album: Stockholm Syndrome | Song: “What Matters More”

7. Sufjan Stevens | Album: Age of Adz | Song: “Too Much”

8. Arcade Fire | Album: The Suburbs | Song: “The Suburbs”

9. The Weepies | Album: Be My Thrill | Song: “Please Speak Of Me”

10. David Bazan | Album: Curse Your Branches | Song: “Please Baby Please”

…and a bonus track from David Bazan: “The Man In Me”… because the song just rocks… and he’s playing the friggin’ drums with his feet.

And I know it’s early, but (knock on wood) this year I feel a certain sense of excitement about the next couple of months. I am not exactly sure what is causing me to feel this way. If I had to guess, perhaps it’s the new place/space I am at in my life, or the new relationships which have started in the past 6 months or so that I am really excited about, or the new projects I am currently undertaking which are very different from those of this time last year (or any other year in my life), or the unknown in-between stage we are at as a family making plans about re-locating and finding work and settling in somewhere new. Who knows?

In some ways, it feels like Spring for me. The dark clouds that followed me around somewhat in 2010 (one of the hardest year’s of my life in many ways) have lifted. I had to make big life-altering decisions last year… but I made them already and now we are on a new trajectory.

And though we’re still very much feeling some of the weight of the transition, dare I say, there is even some hope and passion and excitement and vision for the future creeping into my heart and mind. Now, that’s just crazy-talk. I find myself: daydreaming about what will be, planning what kind of a life we want to build together, thinking about the new start we get to make as a family, and hoping we can somehow make a difference in the lives of the people that we feel God is leading us to.

Well, I still don’t love winter… but Spring is becoming a state of mind.

Coaching the team has reminded me how much I love the sport of basketball… and it has reminded me how much I love kids. Having worked at camps and having been a youth pastor for the better part of a decade, I have spent my fair share of time leading stupid games, going to crazy places, planning weekends away, watching school sports, and just generally trying to create formative experiences and relationships with young people.

Watching my pre-teen become a young woman reminds me how hard it is to be a teenager these days… and how different the world is even than when I was a kid. The world is a crazy place. And as our family begins the process of moving to another town (I have accepted a job as teaching pastor at Hillside Church in London, Ontario) I am pretty anxious about what that will mean for my kids.

More on that soon…

Well, remember that this Fall (until the New Year) is supposed to be somewhat of a sabbatical for me, as my family and I gear up for the next chapter of our lives… whatever that might be.

• I am working 20 hours a week at Hillside Church in London as an “interim teaching pastor.”
• I am coaching two church planters weekly.
• I am helping to facilitate a local church planting network with TrueCity.
• I am doing some web design. I currently have two clients.
• I am helping a group in Guelph get a church started.
• I have been interviewing in various denominations.
• I have been developing Cultivate Network.
• I have been speaking and teaching at various events/schools/conferences.

All of this in the midst of trying to take it easy and rest. Hmm, maybe I should re-think my schedule.

But don’t worry. I’ll blog when I can…