I glide at 37,000 feet in the sky, cramped into 27D, reflecting on the past few days I’ve experienced in the heart of the Mission District of San Francisco. I was invited there by a new friend, Tim Otto, who has been a covenanted member for the past 32 years.
Church of the Sojourners (hereafter referred to as Sojo) is a “live together church” in which most members live together across four multi-family historic residences within a close proximity of each other. They form households of single and married, queer and straight, children and senior citizens. They organize their lives around living together as the church, the family of God, not just attending a “service” once a week.
There’s so much that could be shared about the unique ways in which this community lives out its faith, but I want to highlight 4 lessons that I learned while spending time with them about community.
1. Remain open to missional shifts.
Walking through the neighborhood that this band of disciples resides in, Tim shares with me about the roots of this community. Over 30 years ago, missionaries working with immigrants from El Salvador chose to build this community, this church, as an outpost of the kingdom in this neighborhood, caring for the bodies, minds, and spirits of those fleeing war and violence. However, over the years, as war subsided and immigration slowed, many of those that they were serving began to move out to the suburbs, to areas where it was more affordable to reside.
As the neighborhood changed, so did the mission of Sojo. Tim shared how that they began to look for where God was showing up in their community, and how that they discovered that it was primarily in how they were able to welcome those at the margins of society. He shared about welcoming a recovering heroin addict; developmental and mentally divergent individuals; LGBTQ Christians; and others who had been castaways from religious systems that oppressed.
I spoke with Jody, a guest member of the community, as he shared about his own journey out of evangelicalism and struggling to find a space that integrated a Christocentric way of life with openness to diverse opinions upon contested doctrines. He shared how that Sojo had welcomed him even though he didn’t always fully align with everyone doctrinally and yet the central figure that drew them all together was Jesus.
2. Give more attention to relationships than to possessions.
Over the few days that I spent with this community, I quickly noticed that these folk spend a lot of time together. As Nate, a covenant member, shared with me, “living together as the church is the organizing principle of our life.” We didn’t just spend time praying together, but incorporated most activities of common life, together. We shared conversation over meal prep, maintenance projects, and post-dinner hangouts. Outside of the daily scheduled gatherings, I found that members were often interacting in unplanned moments, because of living in such close proximity to each other.
One of the ways that they prioritize relationships is using that as a consideration in choosing the type of work they do, often working half to 3/4 time jobs so that they aren’t too busy to make time for being present in each other’s lives. As Matt shared with me, though he would have enjoyed becoming an English professor, he has chosen to be a grade-school teacher for the sake of the community.
One of the factors that allow them to spend more time together is that they pool their finances and live in church-owned homes. While they still encourage personal ownership, ask each member to work to contribute to the community, and don’t share all personal assets, they each retain $385 a month for discretionary spending and give the rest of their income to the common purse. Through this economic system, they seek to demonstrate the kingdom values of sharing all we have with each other; encouraging community by adopting the same standard of living as the rest of the community, and fostering a spirit of simplicity in each other.
3. Environment shapes community ethos.
San Francisco is an iconic city of contrasts, famous for its streetcars, bridge, tech companies, and high cost of living. It’s a city of activism, of progressive ideology, and of culture. San Francisco attracts diversity and therefore diversity becomes less counter-cultural than it is elsewhere. Therefore, Sojo is not that weird if people just see the daily lives of Sojo members. Most people that I encountered fit a common aesthetic— casual, environmentally conscious, anti-capitalist, and conscious consumer. They tend to work secular jobs in people helping professions, ride public transit and bikes; and care deeply about social justice. However, what is strange for Sojo in San Francisco, is that faith is at the center of why they do what they do. Tim shared how that in San Francisco, to be a Christian is quite weird and therefore why he wears a plain wooden cross around his neck as a public signifier of his commitment.
The Mission District is a vibrant Latino neighborhood where the tempo of life beats steady and fast. It definitely lends itself towards a more active life, rather than a contemplative one. And I found that to be true for Sojo as well. Most members confessed that life was quite busy between the various church meetings; work; and other obligations. However, they did emphasize that they take breaks from their intentionally intense church schedule to have time for rest and renewal. Various Sojo members talked about ways that they take time for contemplative activities, from taking backpacking trips, to using a members remote cabin for personal retreats; to finding city parks to walk in during Sabbath mornings.
Zoe has been a part of the community for over 30 years and she shared that living in the city was difficult for her. She would much rather have a quieter life with greater access to nature. However, she shared about the commitment that she felt to this community which made it worth it to live in the city.
4. Welcome changes with humility
The good folk at Sojo were open about the risks of living in community. Zoe shared about witnessing the devastation of power-hungry leadership in an affiliated community and how that caused them to reevaluate their structures to protect from such abuses. They shared of the pain of interpersonal conflict, and of those who had left the community angry. And yet, I was able to witness multiple people who had one time had more commitment to the community but that even though they were no longer as involved, they still felt deep affection for and from this community.
Lin reminded me that no community is perfect, precisely because no human is perfect. She recommends to shoot for 80% alignment, and to be willing to sacrifice one’s preferences in the 20% that we wish were different. She shared how that they see conflict as an opportunity to grow in love and understanding with each other. Just like a marriage will encounter changes, so a community will as well. It’s only with humility and deference for each other that we will be able to remain committed and seek to love and serve each other through those conflicts.
One such conversation in this community was how to best love and serve LGBTQ Christians. Should they mandate celibacy for gay members or could they affirm monogamously partnered same-sex couples and include them within their community? Humility led them to choose a third way, in which they welcome same-sex couples but remain supportive of those who are convicted towards choosing celibacy.
In conclusion, I was struck by the way that Sojo loves and commits to each other. They’ve intentionally chosen to live a countercultural life as a prophetic witness and visionary gift to the Church. My faith feels stronger for spending time among them and I remain incredibly grateful for the opportunity to know this community.