As we move through our annual Stewardship Campaign and into the holiday season, we are highlighting the work of the Charis Community with a series of blog posts based on informal interviews with current residents. Charis is an intentional community centered around the shared values of simplicity, prayer, and hospitality. Although there are guiding principles that inform everyone who joins Charis, current residents have the opportunity to discern their shared purpose, intention, and community covenants.
Emily Wright: What is your experience with intentional communities?
Cleo Keller: Let’s see… I’ve been a part of intentional communities for 35 years. I started when I was finishing college. I was living in Los Angeles and involved in environmentalism, and I knew I was living in a part of the world that didn’t feel very sustainable. I read an article about Twin Oaks Community in Louisa, and I was very intrigued. They are a village-scale community of about 100 people. They grow most of their own food and have a relatively low carbon footprint. So, I came out to visit and fell in love with it.
EW: What was it that you loved about it?
CK: Well, I come from a small, somewhat dysfunctional family, and I loved the big family atmosphere of Twin Oaks. I had also grown very disillusioned with capitalism and wanted to connect with people beyond their net worth, on a more even playing field.
EW: How long were you at Twin Oaks?
CK: I lived there for 18 years. I met Craig there, and we had our son. The experience of birth and having a small child there was really delightful. I felt so held and supported.
EW: What was it like going through different passages of family life in intentional communities?
CK: Well, Twin Oaks was great for having young kids, but people live quite close together there, in dorm-style housing. When our son was 7, we moved to Shannon Farm Community where there is more space for raising kids. And we were there for about 15 years. That’s where our son did most of his growing up.
EW: It sounds like you’ve experienced a wide variety of intentional communities.
CK: Yes, most recently we were at Casa Alma, the Catholic Worker community. I deeply appreciated their clear focus and really resonated with their emphasis on hospitality. And I got to do lots of gardening which I’m very passionate about. And the value of hospitality is something that attracted me to the Charis community as well.
EW: I didn’t realize there was so much variety in intentional communities, from the housing structure to the focus of the group. What do you think defines a community as intentional?
CK: Yes, in general, intentional communities can have different focuses or missions, but they share the broader intent to be in community, to be in intentional relationship with each other. They typically start out with bylaws, founding documents, or some other form of articulated values and agreements. Intentional communities also hope to have a legacy and a sense of longevity. This makes them distinct from a group of people living in the same neighborhood or the same house.
EW: You mentioned that you resonated with Charis’s emphasis on hospitality. What visions or goals do you have for your time at Charis?
CK: Well, they’ve already done a wonderful job of establishing a space (the basement apartment) that is clean, safe, and inviting. We’re continuing to make improvements there – for example, we installed a second door so that people don’t have to walk through their living room to reach the laundry and they can have more privacy. I’m also really excited about KJ’s idea for a hermitage on the property, a simple retreat for contemplation, rest, and connection with nature. I also want to help the Church of the Good Shepherd property continue to evolve into a more welcoming and inviting space for individuals and groups.
EW: Is there anything else I haven’t asked that you’d like to share with us?
CK: Craig and I have been leading community singing gatherings for many years. During the pandemic we continued to meet weekly with people outside. I really see it as a singing ministry. We’re all given a voice at birth and some of us get to use it and others get shut down. I want to help people reclaim their birthright to sing, and we hope to continue contributing in that way to Grace Church gatherings and even