How Nurturing Communities Began…

Beginnings. 

The Nurturing Communities Project was born in 2009 out of a conversation between David Janzen of the Reba Place Fellowship and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove of Rutba House at the Ekklesia Project Conference.

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove was one of the directors of the Schools for Conversion that were happening in the early 2000s. Jonathan saw a need for an experienced, pastoral figure to visit younger communities, encouraging them and advising them when necessary. David Janzen’s many years living in and leading communities made him an ideal candidate for the task. David and others began traveling the country, visiting new communities and strengthening ties with older ones. David Janzen wrote up reports about all the communities he visited and we have a link to those reports here.

Several of these groups got together in 2010 before the annual Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) Conference, and from this original gathering a tradition of annual meetings has developed.

Another product of David’s work was The Christian Intentional Community Handbook: For Idealists, Hypocrites and Wannabe Disciples of Jesus (2012), a book which has provided guidance for many young communities.

Yearly Gatherings

Since 2013, there has been regular Nurturing Community meetings with a gathering of community leaders one year and a national “Ya’ll Come” meeting the next. These gatherings have been in various settings across the country.

Following the 2017 national gathering, the leadership team decided to change the name to Nurturing Communities Network. 

New Leadership

In 2018, David Janzen passed the torch of leadership to Joe and Nancy Gatlin, founders of Hope Fellowship in Waco, Texas. In 2025, the Gatlins passed it on to the leadership team of four members from several different communities. This team meets regularly to help set plans for the network along with a somewhat larger steering committee that meets several times a year.