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Urban Barnraisings and Baptisms at the Beach

posted by Tim Nafziger on 07/16/07 at 12:11 AM

This morning was a beautiful Chicago Sunday on the shore of Lake Michigan. A breeze was blowing and my feet were pleasantly warm on the sand. What was I doing out enjoying the sun when I should have been in church? I was there for a baptism on the beach, one of the special parts of life at Living Water Community Church, where my wife and I have been attending for the last 6 months.

Living Water baptism at the Beach
photo by Kirk Lashley

Charletta and I began our search for a church on the north side of Chicago last January and we planned to visit a number of different Mennonite churches in the area along with a few non-Mennonite. We started out by visiting Living Water, but we never got any farther. It was love at first service. The energy, commitment and story of the church drew us in and made us feel at home immediately. The warmth and hospitality ran far deeper than a handshake and a smile. And we were amazed to hear that 70% of the church members lived within walking distance of the church. It helped that Living Water was only 4 blocks away from our own home.

Though the church is Mennonite, most members come from non-Mennonite background. Charletta and I joke that we are the token cradle Mennonites in the congregation. We find it exciting to discuss Anabaptist values and faith with those coming from other backgrounds who have been drawn to the tradition. In many ways this is similar to our experience in the United Kingdom.

 

Along with baptisms at the beach, another important ritual at Living Water is helping people move apartment, or the urban barnraising as they call it. A week ago Charletta and I experienced the amazing collective power of Living Water first hand when they moved all of our earthly posessions out of storage and into our new 4th floor apartment in under 3 hours. It was truly amazing. And we're only two of 9 or 10 people moving over the summer. Through some of the busy months, it can be a move every Saturday, with a few on weekdays for good measure. And every time you can be sure enough people will show up to form a human chain down out of the apartment and to the moving truck. Here's a photo to show you how it works:

Living Water urban barnraising
photo by Patty Peebles

So those are two aspects of Living Water life to give you a flavor of our community. I look forward to sharing more soon. In the meantime, come visit us! We meet on the corner of Pratt and Ashland in Rogers Park. See you soon...

Photos courtesy of LWCC Photography

Nafziger_tim_2_thumbnail Tim Nafziger is a activist, writer, organizer and web developer. He lives in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago with his wife Charletta where he attends Living Water Community Church. He is the administrator for the Young Anabaptist Radicals blog and serves as Outreach Coordinator for Christian Peacemaker Teams. For more about his life, read his first blog post.

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  • Posted by Julia at Tuesday, August 07, 2007 at 10:43 AM

    Thanks for naming the kindness that Mennonites extend when someone in the church moves. Cincinnati Mennonite Fellowship helped me on more than one occasion with relocating my earthly possessions. In July 2006 I was amazed by how quickly members of Raleigh Mennonite Church were able to move the pastor and his wife into a new abode.