Living Vision has sprung to life! Come join us!

Blog Entry – 6/16/20

The Living Vision Community is really starting to take shape. A group of about ten of us has been meeting at my house every Tuesday evening for the last 8 weeks. In that time we have worked through The Way of Jesus: Re-Forming Spiritual Communities in a Post-Church Age and had some wonderful discussions about the following questions and more:

What would it look like for a spiritual community to have an open theology, where there wasn’t only one answer for the tough questions of faith?

How could a community interested in following Jesus structure itself so it spent more time on actions – doing the things Jesus did – and less time talking about the things Jesus did?

Since Jesus’ life was filled with spontaneity and adventure, how might we set up Living Vision to nurture those same qualities in us?

What would/could happen if we truly made this community open to anyone, regardless of beliefs or religious persuasion? Since we have defined ourselves as an experiment in community and since there is nothing experimental about gathering people of the same beliefs together, we want to see what happens when we form our community and do everything we do with the express purpose of being open to any and everyone who wants to come along.

We know that Jesus served others without ever attaching strings. How can we emulate that? How can we serve others near and far without ever expecting or wanting anything in return?

What would it be like to be a community without a building, without a facility, without one specific place to gather? What will it be like to be intentionally homeless?

Since we have decided not to have a paid leader, both in the short and long term, how will we lead one another and how might we maximize the gifts of the entire group?


It has been an amazing 8 weeks and I really feel like the adventure has truly begun. We have three community activities in place, each of which is open to anyone who wants to help. We have our Tuesday evening discussion meetings at 1905 Maple St. in Bay View from 7-9 pm on my front porch; we have our Thursday evening Practice of Contemplative Prayer from 6:30-7:30 in Crouse Chapel in Bay View; and we have our chicken coup on the north end of Milton Rd. in Alanson – an operation of 18 chickens whose eggs feed folks who patronize the area food pantries. (We could really use some volunteers to stop by the coup once a week to gather and wash the eggs and deliver them to Manna!) A group of us is also gathering sponsors to participate in the upcoming Petoskey/Bay View Crop Walk which is June 26 at 9 am, beginning at Evelyn Hall in Bay View. Come walk with us and learn more about Living Vision and how you can come adventure with us! You’re also free to call or email me at 231-881-6734 or tobyjones48@gmail.com

I can’t believe this long-developing dream is becoming a reality! Yee-hah!