Speaking of Rocky Cape...

[MaxPC]

Christian Community in Tasmania here,
has anyone on the board visited them? http://thecommonlife.com.au/c/

[Josh]

The general consensus is that they are cult like and have some issues with abuse of authority.

[Peregrino]

I haven't visited them but I know everyone who lives there.

[Josh]

The general consensus is that they are cult like and have some issues with abuse of authority.

Let me clarify, I'm speaking of Gloriavale in NZ, not Rocky Cape.

[MaxPC]

I haven't visited them but I know everyone who lives there.

Peregrino, word has it that Rocky Cape is a healthy community, with a good structure and from their statement of faith, a generous spirit towards those with mistakes in their past. Can you give any more input on this?

[Peregrino]

I haven't visited them but I know everyone who lives there.

Peregrino, word has it that Rocky Cape is a healthy community, with a good structure and from their statement of faith, a generous spirit towards those with mistakes in their past. Can you give any more input on this?

Yes, that is my impression of them as well. Their "parent" community is Elmendorf Christian Community in Minnesota, where we lived for several years until we were sent to Mexico.

One thing I discovered is that written statements of belief are not nearly as prominent as they are in my Amish-Mennonite background. This statement comes almost completely from Peter Hoover with the community having given verbal approval of it when it was published. In real life many of the people don't even know this statement exists and decisions are made from the concensus of ongoing brotherhood meetings rather than a written statement such as this. This was Peter's attempt at encapsulating the general flavor of the community thought for those who are approaching them with no personal knowledge of the community.

That said, I really appreciate this statement. Elmendorf used to have an almost exact duplicate of this statement on their website. (Maybe still do, I don't know.) When I was part of a small house church with an aim toward Christian community we used this statement as our expression as well.

[Wayne in Maine]

Peter invited me to help his start the community there. It looks like a beautiful place, though I still don't understand why he wanted to start a Christian Community there.

[Josh]

Peter invited me to help his start the community there. It looks like a beautiful place, though I still don't understand why he wanted to start a Christian Community there.

Speaking as an Australian, myself and other Australians can't figure that out either. It's isolated and on an island so it's hard to find much business to do and trade is expensive. And it's difficult for most Aussies to move to Tasmania. The culture is pretty different down there too.

Personally, I think it would be a good idea to set up future communities near wherever Bruderhof have set up shop - you know a community can survive there, and you also can offer a way of escape for people who need to leave that setting without going straight into worldliness.

[Peregrino]

Peter invited me to help his start the community there. It looks like a beautiful place, though I still don't understand why he wanted to start a Christian Community there.

The story I heard was that he had a limited time that he could legally stay at Elmendorf since he is a Canadian. When the time came close that he had to leave the country, they got an urgent request from a family in Tasmania who was very interested in community living. Taking that as God's leading, they moved over there and Elmendorf bought a 20 acre property and sent a few other families along to get something started.

[lesterb]

I haven't visited them but I know everyone who lives there.

I don't know most of the others, but I have known Peter for over 40 years. Was in the same youth group as he was, for a while.