By Marianne Wright June 2020 marks the centenary of the Bruderhof, a Christian communal movement that today is home to around 3000 people of many nationalities living on 26 communities in the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Austria, Australia, Paraguay, and...
By Chris Roth I was part of several groups in which the generational torch was not so much “passed” as “seized.” Circumstances, motives, strategies, and outcomes varied, but in each instance this process of torch-passing-under-duress involved both collateral damage...
By Jen and Hilary Bayer We’re 20-year-old twins born and raised in Magic, a residential service learning community. As we’ve grown older we’ve wondered increasingly about futures we might shape here and elsewhere. Today about 20 Magic residents ranging in age from 15...
By Tim Miller The question of generational transition in American communities is inescapably related to one enduring puzzle: although most communities are intended to be permanent institutions, their lifespans in a great many cases aren’t very long. Over and over,...
Communities #185 Winter 2019 Note: You can order a copy of this issue here. How do intentional communities navigate generational change? What structures what help them outlast the founding generation? How are major responsibilities transferred as members age? Stories...
By Blake Wilson Of all the work and teaching I do, social permaculture is perhaps the most vital, because it offers tools to make all of our work more successful and joyful. In these times of chaos and crisis, we need effective groups that can make change. And we need...
