Christian communities: common purse, Hutterites, all things in common, etc.

[Josh]

This is a thread for discussing groups of Christians who organise themselves such that they share a common purse and/or share all things in common in one way or another. Relevant topics include:

- Hutterite Christian communities, Hutterite colonies, and Bruderhof colonies
- Intentional communities such as Reba Place and the now-defunct Plow Creek Fellowship
- Mutual aid plans that have a very high degree of sharing of needs and a low degree of requiring contributions like an insurance plan, such as plans where all sharing is paid for by an entire congregation out of tithes
- Christians who organise with a "common purse", that is, they share their money in a common account or treasury and then pay for each other's needs out of such a purse
- Christians who share "all things in common", such as possessions such as land, houses, vehicles, and so forth
- Monasteries, convents, and other apostolic and religious associations which may include members who take a vow of poverty

[Josh]

The first distinction to be made is that there are two core elements of a Christian community: the first is a sharing of "labour", often known as a "common purse"; that is, the members choose to work, to take the fruits of their labour and put them into a common purse, and then mutually pay out of that purse to provide for each other's essential needs.

Essential needs are generally known to be food, clothing, and shelter.

The second is the sharing of what the modern economist would call "capital"; that is, something that can produce things that can provide essential needs through some means other than just labour. This could include a business, investments in stocks and bonds, land, whether it is worked by members of the community or leased to others who make rent payments, houses for members to live in or houses to rent out to others to produce an income, and so on.

An example in my local region would be a convent which used to lease its land to commercial farmers. A nearby Catholic family desired to apply various regenerative agricultural techniques in a desire to be better stewards of the land with a goal towards replenishing the soil and minimising loss of topsoil, inputs of fertiliser derived from fossil fuels, and so on. They approached the convent and asked if they could work the land. The convent agreed. The family that works the land now shares the produce they produce from that land with both the convent and others, with an eye towards distributing some of it towards people in need; some of it is consumed by the sisters at the convent themselves; some is consumed by the family; and some is sold for profit. This convent is sharing "capital".

At another nearby monastery, the sisters bake bread and conduct bread and soup sales periodically. These events generate profit for the monastery and help pay to provide other food, clothing, and shelter for the sisters. This monastery is sharing "labour".

In a Hutterite colony, the colony holds productive land and businesses, and the members of that colony work in the fields and associated processing plants and other businesses. They share "capital", which helps produce goods for sale. They also share "labour", and then they share the proceeds that arise from that labour.

[Josh]

The third distinction is that such Christian communities are entirely voluntary associations; one may enter it with a vow such as a vow of poverty, but there are no legal constraints holding someone to such vows. (Some religious orders in the past in the era of state-run churches may have have more of an element of coercion, but that does not exist today.) Members join the community entirely by voluntary choice, and they may exit if they wish. The only consequence of exiting is that they might end up no longer being a part of receiving the benefits food, clothing, shelter, and the proceeds of the labour of other members of the community and the proceeds of the capital held communally by the community.

This is an important distinction between the types of associations that are necessary for the functioning of local governments. I am a "resident" of a township, which means I am mandated to support my local township in terms of paying property taxes, vehicle registration fees, and so on. Likewise, I must pay income taxes and sales taxes to the state in which I live. The United States requires me to remit income taxes regardless of where I live or where or how I earn that income. I cannot choose to freely "exit" being part of the United States and owing them money in the form of taxation and fees on both my own capital and my own labour.

Likewise, the benefits of being a resident of my state or the United States are not waiverable. They are rights, and if I feel I am not receiving what I am entitled to, I can litigate according to a process of law and enforce those rights.

A Christian community functions differently. The leadership of the community and the membership of the community assess how each member's needs are being met. A member is expected not to litigate against their own community, and legally speaking, has no right to any of the specific capital or labour that belongs to the community. Their only legal recourse is to separate from the community.

[Josh]

A fourth distinguishing feature is a particular order or rule of life that goes beyond what the adherents to that religion consider necessary for Christian life.

Examples can be found in the Hutterian Chronicles and the orders of Benedict and of St Francis, or indeed what is laid out in Acts 2. The particular rule of life in Acts 2 and 5 was selling property voluntarily and then voluntarily laying the proceeds at the apostles’ feet. Every modern common purse is inspired by that example but the details are not exactly the same as the Christian Community described in Acts.

[RZehr]

So is there an L.L.C. or a Corporation involved here?

[Chris]

Many monasteries operate similar to the Hutterites in how money is made. No monk really "owns" stuff. It's all in common. Even the room they sleep in (cell) is community owned. The Abbot (Priest or Bishop) in charge handles the monies made by monks from making/selling various things to help the monastery function. Many monasteries also have gardens and try to provide their own foods as much as possible that monks work in.

[Josh]

So is there an L.L.C. or a Corporation involved here?

In the US there could either be an unincorporated association or a corporation (both typically nonprofit). The association is not “owned” by its shareholders but rather has a religious or other communal purpose other than just accruing profits to its shareholders.

In any case it would have a board of directors or whatever else is required for such associations or corporations, and then has bylaws which define who the members are.

[Praxis+Theodicy]

The Bruderhof is an altogether unique category from those mentioned in the first post. Their common purse extends among their entire worldwide movement/church/denomination. They don't see themselves as a denomination with several local churches. They see themselves as a church body with physical communities in several localities. In all ways including financial, they are one united body across the world.

I spent 6 months on a Bhof community. The fact that they remain one united church is a way they see themselves as especially distinct from the Hutterites. The Hutterite communities each have an individual common purse, so some communities might be more well off than others (although, from my understanding, other colonies will help "lift up" struggling colonies much like the Corinthians helped lift up the church in Jerusalem). The Bhof's worldwide common purse means you can visit any of their communities and see a similar living condition unless it's a newer community, like the one in Idaho or S. Korea.

Their businesses are big enough that they have many communities manufacturing many different things for the same business. It would be logistically impossible for the Bhof to segregate their communities from each other, because most all of them have their labor poured into the same two companies: Rifton Equipment and Community Playthings. In my opinion, it's the nature of their business that necessitates their need to maintain a worldwide common purse instead of local common purses. But they do believe it's for the best theologically too. They quote the High Priestly Prayer on church unity a lot to justify their global common purse and the rest of unity as a church they have along with it.

[MaxPC]

Stellar topic, Josh. I hope to see more discussion as I see an increased interest by young families to live in faith communities. Devout families are assaulted by the culture's anti-Christian verbiage (in some cases, physical violence). They are seeking community for spiritual support and strength. This trend is growing among families of all denominations.

It is not a new idea and can well be supported by Scripture. In the early years of monastic communities, lay people and their families (non-monastics) would live near the monasteries; attend the various prayer hours and Mass; and work the land. Some would make a simpler version of the monastic vows (promises).

Regarding Bruderhof, I am still learning. E.g. I did not know that the Bruderhof have a "global" purse that all the communities shared. I find that quite interesting. There is a youtube channel wherein a Bruderhof couple answer questions about their life and share from what appears to be their communities' Rule, a book titled Following the Call.
Bruderhof Youtube

Regarding Catholic monasticism, there have been literally hundreds of monastic religious orders through the millenia. Some even have non-monastic "active" branches (as different from "contemplative" communities). Some monastic orders have disappeared. Some have been revived in a new era. Some have been with us since their founding in the 4th and 5th centuries. Allow me to offer a very brief and spontaneous recall of the better known monastic orders:
Augustinians
Benedictines
Carmelites
Basilians (Eastern Orthodox tradition)
Carthusians
Camaldolese

Some of the active religious orders have contemplative branches in which the members live within convents or monasteries. Two that come to mind are the Dominicans and Franciscans.

[Soloist]

It’s fascinating reviewing the history of monasteries and why they take vows of chastity and poverty.
It’s equally fascinating reviewing early thoughts on why lone monks could never actually defeat selfishness by themselves but needed another to obey.