A look at the life of Tibetan Buddhist nuns in Nepal.
http://anisa.org.za/sites/anisa.org.za/files/Tom%20Smith%20-%20ANiSA%20Theology%20Forum.mp3
Tom spoke recently on the practice of discipling in a mixed intentional community, interestingly from an economic standpoint. He refers to the writings of Alan Kreider, the early church and a conversion of the imagination. “As whites in South Africa, we’re not middle class – we are the rich.”
Julian visits an urban ecovillage. To provide some new monastic context, cf. Marks 2 and 10:
Sharing economic resources with fellow community members and the needy among us.
Care for the plot of God’s earth given to us along with support of our local economies.
Part 2 addresses the theme of structural conflict.
Brief synopsis of TSK’s old year, plus a challenge for 2012:
Episode 16—Dan Schmitz of New Hope Covenant Church: Evangelical Formation in a Post-Christian World.
What makes evangelicals tick?
Good question! 
Here be dynamite, and a window into the heart of Julian’s quest. Read the comments..
Paula Huston Follow-Up: On the Clash between Ancient Monasticism and Modern Romanticism.
Still battling to track Julian’s updates. Here’s a recent submission, 22 Nov:
Julian Collette reminded me about Evan B. Howard’s site.
Our web site offers over fifteen years of NewesLetter archives, resources and writings particularly in the areas of spirituality and new monasticism, podcasts and links and connections to all kinds of stuff.
Of interest is this paper:
Evangelical Monasticism in a Postmodern World: Preliminary Considerations
One of the more interesting sections of a research proposal is the one called “Principal Theories,” where a certain theory or model is suggested as a means of unpacking the key research question. Analysing intentional communities (ICs), it seems, can utilise any number of these approaches but, not so obviously, some are more helpful than others.
What happens when your supervisor and another referee disagree on the Principal theory? In this case, Max Weber’s sociological theory of authority is suggested as one way of analysing a given IC. I think the study of charismatic vs legal-rational vs traditional leadership is indeed a suitable approach. Juxtaposed to this is an anarchist model that appears to suit new monastic communities in particular (that is, its North American interpretation).
Now, the principal theorists for this latter position are writers like Jacques Ellul and Vernard Eller. While their theory makes a lot of sense for me personally and anti-Empire ICs, I do not think they suit South African ICs which are largely ‘apolitical’ (for want of a better word). It depends, I suppose, on what you’re looking at in an IC: their identity or their mission? Should Eller replace Weber? Do they they preclude each other?
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