Young adults are often transient people. They move away from home, go to school, find jobs, travel, serve abroad. While that’s challenging enough, finding a new community to connect with can be even more difficult.
That’s why many believe intentional communities can be beneficial for them.
Ottawa Mennonite Church (OMC) holds this belief and is in the process of establishing another intentional community.
The O-Town Ark is the brainchild of the pastoral relations committee and Carrie Lehn, the youth and young adults pastor at OMC. In January the committee began discussing practical ways to support Mennonite young adults in the area.
“We realized if we had a house, we could serve a very practical need and be a ministry for them,” Lehn says.
Luckily a friend of a church member put a suitable house up for rent. The O-Town Ark is located at 61 Lees Avenue. It’s a four bedroom house near the University of Ottawa and Carleton University, near downtown, and near major bus routes. Many church members have taken it upon themselves to donate furniture, money, and time to make the place suitable for renters by September 1.
The O-Town Ark has a large backyard with a barbecue, a porch and tenants have access to free WiFi and laundry. Rent ranges from $550-$600 per month.
Lehn will be renting one of the rooms so she can actively participate in the community. She will serve as the house co-ordinator.
“I’m looking forward to creating a space that’s really welcoming and really hospitality-oriented. A place where people can come, meet others, and make connections so they don’t feel like they’re alone in this city,” Lehn says.
“I like the idea of being involved in it and being really hands-on. I think it will be really good for me—I’m new to the city as well. It will allow me to really build into a community.”
One of OMC’s goals is for the Ark to become a hub for Mennonite young adults and the wider Christian community to engage with others who are living permanently and temporarily in the nation’s capital.
Paul Berg-Dick sits on the pastoral relations committee at OMC and serves as a co-facilitator of the O-Town Ark.
He says intentional communities have impacted his family immeasurably—that’s why he’s so passionate about the Ark.
“My daughters both went to Conrad Grebel University College and lived in community there. I've seen how important Christian community can be in terms of enriching lives and I want to help others find those connections here in Ottawa,” Berg-Dick says.
Three tenants will move in with Lehn in September. Berg-Dick has high hopes for the Ark and the future community members.
“I hope they’ll make friends within that community and within the broader set of young adults who will drop into the house or who are involved in the events at the house. I hope we’re able to establish some mentorships so we can enrich the students lives as well as the broader church community,” he says.
Berg-Dick says the church will evaluate the Ark’s progress in April and make changes as needed.
For more information or for application forms to live at the O-Town Ark, contact Carrie Lehn at carrie@ottawamennonite.ca or (613) 716-4663.
--Posted July 2, 2014
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