This Sunday marks a decisive chapter in the story of Neighbors Abbey.  We will no longer be meeting as a congregation with the oversight of the Presbytery, or the leadership of founding pastor, Troy Bronsink.  But the story of the Abbey is much much larger than our worship gatherings…  The evening will be like a wake, commemorating the end of a dream, and it will also be like a blessing way, marking a rite of passage for so many of us who have or are moving into new chapters of life and faith.

In August of 2008, 18 friends and neighbors sat on our back porch on Dill Ave and prayerfully brainstormed what it would look like to build a faith community committed to its local community.  We chose the “Neighbor” in Jesus’ Good Samaritan Story as our patron saint, expecting our SW Atlantan neighbors to be gifts from God who will teach us.  We chose the title “Abbey” to emphasize the essential roles of contemplation, justice, and hands-on practices to church planting.

As some of you may know, we’ve faced a number of obstacles’ in the past 6 months, most notably the new direction on the part of our denominational supporters. Like many nonprofits the economy has also affected our funding capacity. These caused us to reconsider how we could effectively be “church” in the shape we had first envisioned. However, when we experimented with evolving into a more co-op shaped church, the availability of leaders and volunteers dropped considerably due to real life joys including parenthood, new relationships,  and new employment to name a few. These and countless other indicators are confirming that it is time to quit striving so “force” the next chapter into existence, and to end while we can still end well.

Over the years our participants have been involved in all sorts of local community transformation: founding afterschool classes, mentoring, a flashmob Ash Wednesday service at 5-Points MARTA, local Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter celebrations, serving beer at park events, and leading neighborhood cleanups.  We have been supported by all sorts of groups including the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, North Avenue Pres (PCUSA), and City Church Eastside (PCA).  We’ve been supported by countless individuals from across three continents! We’ve partnered with a wide range of organizations including many local congregations, House in the Park, the American Islamic Fellowship, Hands On Atlanta, and FCS Urban Ministries.  We’ve begun a great youth development agency, SWAN, that has now reached over 50 girls in our SW Atlanta community, hosted forums for community members to know one another, and matched mentors to many of our participants.

But the best descriptions of the Abbey have been the people—those who come as full participants, sharing openly about their faith, doubts, and fears.  We have prayed, sung, studied Christian scriptures, explored poetry and writings from a number of theological and religious perspectives, and eaten well… all for the purposes of facing God, facing each other, and facing our selves- with the intention to Follow Jesus into the Art of Neighboring.

Come be a part of this potluck/celebration from 5-7pm!  As usual, any are welcome. Put some thought this week into stories to share and laugh about and help us toast the years to come!

If you can’t join us, please send a note to troy@neighborsabbey.org with any notes, anecdotes, or prayers.

In Genesis 2:18-25, we read that after God created Adam and placed him in the garden, God realized, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” As sons of Eve and daughters of Adam, we have been given a purpose and a call from God to be participants and co-creators in this world. As we have been given our Adam-like tasks, we each need our Eves- companions, allies, and advocates who will recognize, identify, affirm, and help along the dreams God has placed in our lives and the responsibilities that come with being stewards of creation. When our friends, family, and/or spouses recognize the dreams God has placed in our lives, the best we can do for them is to be advocates, allies, and companions as they strive to be a stewards of creation.

And just as there was a tree containing forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden, there are forbidden trees in our lives as well. God made Adam aware of the tree he was not to partake of. From that Adam was able to make a conscientious decision. But the tree was allowed to exist in the Garden amongst the good trees. There are many “trees” in our lives that are very harmful to “partake of”. We need to be made aware of those trees that exist among the beneficial trees. And just as Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit and became ashamed of their actions, we also need to maintain a measure of grace in the mistakes we and our friends, family, and/or spouses make, or else our shame will drive us away from each other and from the very God who desires to be in community with us.

Have you noticed how many times, when God calls someone to do something in the Bible, that there are companions, allies, and advocates that come to usher that person along?