Neither an institution nor a random collection of individuals: Reflections on Nurturing Communities Network’s 2024 Y’all Come Gathering

by Evan Howard

A few days after the NCN Y’all Come gathering I received an email from a friend who was too late to pick up a copy of my article on new monasticism. His first words after the greeting were, “What an encouraging group!”

I responded with wholehearted agreement. And then I asked myself, “Why is this? What made this gathering so encouraging?”

I start with a few images and impressions:

  • Children happily playing together unsupervised all over the grounds.

  • Worship music sung wholeheartedly in three languages.

  • So many people complaining because they wanted to attend all the workshops.

  • A nine-year old thrilled to have won a round of “Loteria.”

  • People quoting—and re-quoting—David Janzen’s comment about learning to embrace our loneliness.

  • The rich tour of Caneyville Community’s grounds, and their story.

  • My last-minute breakfast roundtable which grew too large to encompass one of the round tables. We could have talked all day!

  • The stories offered by the panel of women – stories I will now carry within me.

  • And then there were the moments of “meeting you for the first time” that were clearly divine appointments shaping the future.

This is Nurturing Communities Network at its best. The NCN gathering was not an institutional “annual meeting,” complete with policy reviews and growth projections. But neither was it simply a “Christian summer camp” where folks gather to have fun and hear inspiring messages. We are neither an institution nor a random collection of individuals. I think it is even a bit much to call us a “movement.” We are an informal network. NCN is a loose collection of mutually supporting, independent communities and Christians interested in community. Networks, whether in computers, fungi, or societies, are about connections. It was so very encouraging to watch the spread of connections: from one person to another, from one language to another, from one Christian tradition to another!

Furthermore, it was a gathering of Christian communities [and people interested in Christian communities]. You must realize how rare this is. I have been reading lately about the “utopian communities” in nineteenth century United States: the Oneida community, Old Harmony, and so on. They all had their independent dreams, but they were usually not humble enough even to meet together, let alone support one another. But here we were: members of a hundred-year-old Anabaptist Bruderhof, associates with eighty year old Roman Catholic Madonna House, and more recent explorers in intentional community and new monasticism. I am deeply encouraged to experience such a community of communities!

Finally, I witnessed a nurturing gathering. I saw elders helping wannabes think about how they might start their own community. I heard stories of communities sharing not just ideas but members. I saw the flow of gifts, experience, and the Spirit of God as we listened, empathized, and offered care.

Yes, I agree with my friend. What an encouraging group! Nurturing. Communities. Network. The theme may have been about loneliness, but at least for me, loneliness was the furthest thing from my experience. So lovely to have shared life with such kindred spirits!


Evan Howard is a teacher and author, speaking and writing about Christian spirituality and monasticism (old and new).