+ Learn more about Formation & Training

FRIDAY SESSIONS

These sessions are the heart of Life Together’s leadership training and formation program. Each monthly training is a mix of both prayerful and prophetic practices—a combination of contemplative spiritual practices, time for community building, and skill-based leadership training. Fellows learn about the intersection between personal and social transformation. In addition, they provide a space for fellows to discuss their work and provide and receive support on specific issues.

A TYPICAL MONTHLY FRIDAY TRAINING:

• > 8:45: Arrive and get settled
• > 9:00: Worship + Community check-in with staff and fellows
• > 10:15: Teaching/Workshop on contemplative practice (some interior leadership art)
• > 12:30: Lunch
• > 1:30: Teaching/Workshop on a Prophetic Leadership Practice
• > 4:30: Evaluation and Closing Prayer
• > PARTNERS

Our primary partners in this work have been Leading Change and Marshall Ganz (for public narrative and community organizing), The Servant Leadership School in Greensboro, NC (in creating a framework for how to think about Christianity as a way of life—“The Jesus Way”), John deBeer and the KLESIS Curriculum (for vocational discernment, community, and group process), and The Fund for Theological Education (for discernment, community, and spiritual practice). Additionally, training is often supplemented by our sister organization, The Leadership Development Initiative (LDI). Life Together and LDI work closely together and continue to build networks of coaches, leadership trainers, and faith-based social-change leaders.

RECRUITMENT + FUNDRAISING

In addition to attending training on Fridays, fellows share responsibility for the ongoing recruitment of future fellows and for fundraising. We believe the arts of recruitment and fundraising are critical skills in ministry and social change work that all of our fellows must learn. This learning happens primarily through a project called "Future Fellows Fundraising."

This is a form of team-based fundraising and a collaborative campaign to raise $30,000 during the year. Each staff member and fellow is responsible for raising at least $500. The money raised goes to help pay the stipends and health insurance for the next cohort of fellows.

EVALUATION

Commitment to ongoing evaluation is a core value for Life Together, and a critical part of how we create a culture of both gratitude and learning. We do extensive written evaluations and experiential evaluation.

Written evaluations include: a base-line survey during Orientation, mid-year evaluation with each fellow, his/her supervisors and the Fellowship Director, and an end-of-year evaluation including a survey.

In-person evaluations at the end of each training session help collect key learnings and give the trainers feedback about what worked well and how to make the learning experience even better.

Finally, program directors conduct mid-year site visits and end-of-year exit interviews with all fellows.

+ View community locations, and read a firsthand account of Intentional Community directly from a Life Together Alumni.

LIFE TOGETHER COMMUNITIES

• Episcopal Chaplaincy @ Harvard, Cambridge, MA (Micah Fellows)
• Emmaus House @ St Luke's, Boston, MA (Micah Fellows)
• Episcopal Chaplaincy @ BU, Boston, MA (Micah Fellows)
• Church of Our Holy Spirit, Fall River, MA (South Coast Fellows)
• Esperanza House, Lawrence, MA (Esperanza Teaching Fellows)

MY EXPERIENCE LIVING IN COMMUNITY
BY HAZEL JOHNSON, 2012

What is this intentional community stuff Life Together is talking about? Do I really plan on travelling almost 3,000 miles across the country to live with people I don’t know? These are just a few (among many) of the questions I had when deciding to come to Boston to join Life Together. In Nevada, I had never heard of a program where young adults could live in an intentional Christian community and work on social justice issues. This was a major part of Life Together’s appeal, and also quite possibly a major part of my fear to join. While I enjoyed the idea of working on social justice issues in the greater Boston area, I wasn’t quite sold on the “living with 7 people” part of the deal. You see, as the second oldest in a family with 5 children and with 4 years of college roommate life under my belt, I figured I had already had my fair share of dirty kitchens, unreturned pairs of clothes, and loud music until 2am. As I learned more and more about what it meant to live in intentional community, my heart started to open to this idea that it was possible to live with 7 people. My heart opened to the idea that I could share 2 meals a week with my housemates, pray with and for one another in good times and in times of need, and take random trips to cities we had never heard of or been to. My heart not only opened to the idea that I could live with 7 people, but that I could love those 7 people. Now, don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of days when dishes were piled high, clothes were left in the dryer, and we just weren’t communicating well with one another, but I could handle it. If you ask anyone that knew me before Life Together, that might have been a different story. So why was it different?

Coming here and living with 7 complete strangers was so much better than I imagined because I learned a wide range of concrete skills and tools to be able to live in harmony with my 7 wonderful blessings. As a house, we created a list of guidelines for how we would live with one another, respect each other and honor our differences. At first I thought it was strange, but I quickly came to understand the value of having this document. You see, this document was a way of holding us accountable when our 8 different schedules didn’t align so that we could “play” together. When things got so busy that I didn’t see my housemate for 2 days, this document reminded us of our commitment to one another. Living in intentional community isn’t all peaches and cream. But through it all I was able to learn from others and it was a transformative experience for me. I went from dreading coming into a house with 8 people to dreading watching everyone leave. And yes, I would do it again if it meant I could sing my favorite gospel song with Andrew as we carpool to work, dance fearlessly with Katie, share a room and deep conversations with Sofia, compare organizing stories with Sevy, eat delicious Vietnamese food with Amy, enjoy Taize worship with Hannah, and bake delicious treats with Julia.

Intentional community doesn’t mean that I have to be best friends with all of my housemates or that I have to change who I am for the sake of the house. Intentional community means the exact opposite for me. In my time living in intentional community, I was as much myself as I had ever been and if something went wrong (which it did) I was able to address the issues with grace and love. And even though I butted heads with my roommates from time to time (that’s bound to happen with 7 different personalities), I was still able to maintain a friendship through the struggle. That is intentional community. You are free to be you, I am free to be me, and we respect each other, If you are lucky like me, you may even learn to love each other.

+ Read a Life Together Fellow's reflection on their site placement work

WORKING MY DREAM JOB AT THE BOSTON WORKERS ALLIANCE Samantha Akwei, 2013

Ask me if I love my job and I will tell you that I’m more like a married person. I have a deep passionate love for my work, committed staff partners and occasional minor stresses, but overall my heart manages to smile most of the time. How? Well first, it’s for people that look exactly like me and it is inspiring to know I have something to offer my community. Second, it's for a cause that affects all of humankind - everyone needs a job! But let me warn you, if you’re looking for a job or need help with your resume, do not come by my office and expect to receive direct services only. Nope, I’m sorry. You will be transformed.

I view resumes not just as pieces of card-stock listing qualifications but also a person's values and potential. Thus, I ask more questions than even the FBI because I need to know what lies at the heart of a person’s desires. What have they always dreamed about doing? Of, course I could choose to simply help them build their skills to get any ole' job, but I am more interested in hearing their story of self and what they desire to give to the world. To me, that’s most fascinating.

Deep listening is highly valued in the Life Together Community, and it allows me to extract what we call 'cultural icebergs.' Being trusted by the people I serve reminds me of the need to build genuine relationships. I give them the ability to ask for what they need despite their Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI), and they subconsciously feed me doses of humility. Nonviolent communication (NVC), another framework I have learned through Life Together training, is another tool I dare not leave home without. Sometimes my clients appear reckless and rude as a result of their challenging circumstances, but I know responding reciprocally will only escalate the matter. So, I try to prayerfully remain calm and keep the three letters “NVC” on deck. It’s difficult at times! Imagine reaching out to a person who wants to close the door on your face because every one in the world has closed the door on theirs. But, thank God I am not alone. The three men that I work with are not only right by my side in helping every client, but they also help me to understand clients' issues, as they once wore same shoes. They work from their souls and I appreciate the “real” experiences they serve from. Working in a tight community with a small staff gives us no choice but to work together. And as the only woman I must say that the male ego is an interesting thing, especially from the black male perspective, which is accustomed to being imprisoned physically, mentally, and spiritually. Yet these men, by God’s grace, have been freed to take a lot of pride in giving back, and I understand. I understand that no one is perfect and that everyday we are growing together.

Even in the midst of transitions in leadership, we have worked ten times harder to support one another. I am proud to say we are working together more effectively than ever. We are about strategy, development, and coalitions. We don’t work in silos or exist merely for the sake of getting a grant. We are strictly about people power! Constantly endeavoring to embody God, practicing unconditional love, leading from my heart, learning about others values and how they may be different from mine, and advocating for jobs and justice is what truly makes me come alive. Sure, some may just call it “living into Life Together’s mission,” but I think it’s more like God’s calling. I would have never imagined being here, but somehow I feel purposely placed. Overall, working at my site has not been about what I can get but ultimately what I have to give, and that has made all the difference!