The Simple Way is a non-profit in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania, United States.

History

Shane Claiborne and five other Eastern University graduates founded an

intentional community An intentional community is a voluntary residential community designed to foster a high degree of group cohesiveness, social cohesion and teamwork. Such communities typically promote shared values or beliefs, or pursue a common vision, wh ...

when they moved into a

terraced house A terrace, terraced house ( UK), or townhouse ( US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known as row ...

in the neighborhood of

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

in January 1998. They purposely started the community in the poorest area of the city, which was a place where there were no existing local churches. They did not apply for funding from mission agencies. Since then, the community has transitioned into a local non-profit. Current activities of The Simple Way include planting gardens, running a store, and working for food security in the neighborhood. When a law was passed that prohibited distribution of food on streets in the city, The Simple Way avoided breaking the new law by instead distributing the

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

, which is not considered food after it has been blessed. The community is part of the New Monasticism movement. Singer-songwriter

Dar Williams Dorothy Snowden "Dar" Williams (born April 19, 1967) is an American pop folk singer-songwriter from Mount Kisco, New York. Hendrik Hertzberg of ''The New Yorker'' has described Williams as "one of America's very best singer-songwriters." She ...

has been affiliated with the community since 1999, and has held a benefit concert to raise money for it. In his book ''The Way of Jesus: Re-Forming Spiritual Communities in a Post-Church Age'', Toby Jones writes that The Simple Way provides "an authentic, albeit human, look at living the way of Jesus". John Avant writes about The Simple Way in his book ''If God Were Real: A Journey into a Faith That Matters'', calling the community "a pretty incredible group".Avant (2009), p. 36.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Simple Way Christian monasticism Simple living Neighborhood associations Counterculture communities Housing cooperatives in the United States Kensington, Philadelphia 1998 establishments in Pennsylvania Christian organizations established in 1998 Cooperatives based in Pennsylvania