A Community of Counselor Pioneers

by Rev Lou Hillendahl

Can midwestern Methodists realize dreams of community and service in the forests of Puget Sound?

T HE UPPER-MIDDLE-CLASS Ingleside United Methodist Church in northern Illinois was an "unconventional" conventional church in the mid-1970s. Its large inner-healing ministry helped hundreds of people with all kinds of personal or family problems--addictions, broken relationships, sexual problems, family abuse, and so on. Most who came to its Christ/Gospel-centered program found significant help, and some stayed on to help others. The organizing and training of the members of the congregation and the newcomers gradually coalesced into a loving, trusting, close-knit Christian fellowship committed to helping anyone in need.

Two ideas gradually emerged. One was to form an intentional Christian community so people could live close together as an extended family, support one another, and share their lives. The other was to establish a retreat center that would help counseling clients temporarily get away from their normal environments.

Finally we realized we could do both--establish a retreat center with the Christian intentional community providing its staff. However, most of us knew next to nothing about forming intentional communities and even less about Christian communities. So we spent about three years sorting out what kind of church, community, and retreat center we envisioned, and how to turn our dreams into reality. The Wesleyan Christian Community was born.

Sixteen families and several single individuals who were committed to the project asked me and my wife, Mary Lou, to play major roles in the project. Because of our background and training, the group asked me to be pastor, architect, and general contractor, and Mary Lou to be in charge of finances and accounting.

After a search for adequate land, we bought 58 acres of second-growth forest on Vashon Island, on Puget Sound, not far from Seattle, Washington.

During what seemed like endless meetings over the ensuing months, we made a number of decisions about our transition to community. First, all subsequent decisions would be made by unanimous agreement of the entire membership, after each person had been heard. If there was one "No" vote, the issue would be tabled until the next meeting. Second, we would honor leadership. If some one took on leadership responsibilities and carried them out well, we would recognize and affirm that person for it.

My wife and I, along with about a dozen members, were to proceed to Vashon Island and get the project under way. Community members would do the actual construction work on the homes and the new retreat center. We would purchase three large van trucks for the move. The plan was to send furniture and personal possessions out first, then drive the trucks back filled with cedar shakes from Washington to sell for a profit in Illinois, making several round trips. The move would take place over one year to allow members time to sell homes, resign from their jobs, or complete school commitments.

The land and buildings would be held in common under a legal trust agreement. Each home would be designed especially for, and in consultation with, the family that would live in it. If an individual or a family chose to leave the community, the money they had contributed would be returned to them; however, no interest would be paid and they would not be compensated for their labor.

In order to alleviate stress in families, each couple would be encouraged to take one night off a week (without their children) and a long weekend off every six to eight weeks (also without their children). Other families would take care of the children while the parents took the time off.

We decided on other policies as well. There would be no smoking, no use of illegal drugs, abuse of legal drugs, or intoxication at any level from alcohol. There would be no outdoor pets without community approval.

One of our first orders of business was to form a new church. On Easter Sunday, 1977, we formally organized the Wesleyan Community Church. We turned over all the books and keys of the Ingleside United Methodist Church to the proper church officials.

In order to purchase our new property, we unanimously committed to contribute $300 per month each to the project Development Fund. Those who could afford it agreed to give the fund as much cash as they had available. Our project was off to a surprisingly good start--we raised just under a quarter of a million dollars.

We planned to rent houses on Vashon Island while we completed building. However, once there, we discovered there were very few rental houses available on this sparsely populated island. We proposed purchasing and living in surplus Army tents. The idea raised a stir, but after much conversation we decided to give it a try. We bought sturdy 16-by-32-foot tents, which gave us about 500 square feet inside. We set the tents on wooden floors and installed wood stoves and some insulation.

While the Army tents were quite comfortable, there was no running water or indoor plumbing, and we used kerosene lamps. We also had to gather and split wood for the stoves.

Within days of first living in them, we realized that storing food and cooking in the tents was virtually impossible. Therefore, we decided to build a temporary kitchen and common dining room where families could all eat together and take turns preparing the meals. This solution had unexpected benefits. The daily cooking chore was spread around and no one had to prepare all three meals every day. The schedule also freed people up to give additional time to the construction project when they were not working at their outside jobs.

Our next challenge was the King County Building Department, with headquarters in Seattle. After 18 months of paperwork, meetings, and public hearings, we got a Conditional Use Permit and our water system permit. The latter was for a deep well and a Class II Municipal water system, which included a 60,000-gallon storage tank, 1 mile of 6-inch water mains, fireplugs, fire pumps and a system pressure pump. This all had to be operational, inspected, and approved before the county would issue our first building permit.

The construction schedule was strenuous. After community members returned from their outside jobs, they worked on the community projects from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, with community Bible study on Wednesday evenings. We took Fridays off, but Saturdays worked from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., followed by our worship celebration from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays were family day. One of our members didn't take an outside job but worked five days a week getting everything organized and ready for the work crews.

During the following 10 years, we built a two-story, 7,000-square-foot community building; a second large structure used for tools, maintenance, office, and laundromat; and 14 large brick and tile-roofed homes.

Even though our construction schedule was difficult, especially since the weather rarely altered--it rains a lot in the Puget Sound area--there were some very real, tangible benefits to our owner-builder construction method. For instance, a home with a normal market value of $175,000 cost us only $65,000. Most families had their homes fully paid off in eight to 10 years. This arrangement has resulted in most families having a considerable amount more discretionary income each month.

Waiting for their houses to be built, families lived in the Army tents for up to five years. However, most will tell you this was one of the best experiences of their lives. We realized that living in big suburban homes with a private room for each person, each coming and going with his or her own activities, had created a situation in which family members really didn't know one another. However, living in a 16-by-32-foot tent with no dividing walls required major adjustments by each individual in the family. Each person had to learn to cooperate and respect the feelings and needs of other family members.

Today, with the buildings finished and retreat ministry, though very active for years, is in transition. The purpose and goals of the community are being redefined through endless meetings similar to those held when the community first began. Currently, occasional retreats are held, and counseling is available on an individual basis.

We do not have a common purse. Rather, each individual or family takes care of their needs and, in addition, contributes to the community Development Fund and Kitchen Co-op. Members are committed to helping each other through financial difficulties. If needed, financial counseling is available.

We have now lived in community for 19 years. The community is strong and stable, and our members have bonded together into a real extended family. People feel happy and content with their lives. A bonus has been the group of stable, well-adjusted young people we raised. We strive to live by the teachings of Jesus Christ and are dependent on His guidance. This, we are certain, is the basis of the sustainability of our community. God has richly blessed our ministry.

The Wesleyan Christian Community is a member of the Fellowship for Intentional Community, the Northwest Intentional Communities Association, and Wineskins, a network of intentional Christian communities on the West Coast. Lou Hillendahl, one of the founders of the community, was pastor of the Wesleyan Community Church until June 1996, when he retired.