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a rule of life for the crossing community

To download a pdf copy of this rule, click here.  You can also contact us to learn more.

  A single coal does not stay on fire on its own. It needs the
  warmth and presence of the other coals to keep burning.
                ~ Jason Long, member of The Crossing community

The Crossing is a community of sisters and brothers offering a compassionate, progressive, creative,
generous, radically welcoming expression of God’s life and love in the city of Boston. From that
community has grown this Rule of Life, which like the Rule of a monastic community spells out our
commitment to discipleship. We believe we are called to follow in the footsteps of the ancients and
live the way of Jesus: nurturing God’s Spirit in and among us; gathering everybody for prayer and
celebration at God’s table; bearing the good news of hope and resurrection into the world; and
spreading God’s mission of healing and transformation.

But we know we cannot live this dream alone. We need each other. We need authentic, concrete
spiritual practices that form our lives in the shape of Jesus’ life. We need to make real commitments
to God and to each other as we journey together closer to the heart of God and to the deepest
callings on our own lives.

We offer this Rule for Real Life as an invitation to all in our community. Whether The Crossing is your
primary community or a secondary gathering where you seek renewal, whether you live near our
home at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral or have moved to far flung places, we hope you feel
inspired and called to take up this Rule, to see this community as your own and to join us as a
companion on the way. We do need each other. This Rule for Real Life describes a way of walking
together, and following Jesus together and making something extraordinary, holy and whole of our
daily, ordinary (seemingly) individual lives.

This Rule for Real Life is offered in faith and hope by and for The Crossing community,
January 15, 2009.

 

one: radical welcome

  You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in
  the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:19)

We commit ourselves to practice radical welcome in our worship, in our community fellowship and
hospitality, and in our daily lives. We will embrace – with our practices and our hearts – the voices
and gifts and transforming presence of all God’s people, especially groups the church has least
sought, heard and honored.

This commitment matters because we know God is speaking and moving in surprising places, and
Jesus was constantly taking risks and going to the margins. We want to embrace those gifts from
the margins in our worship and in our lives. It matters because in embracing and listening to The
Other, we consistently find our hearts broken open as we are able to more fully embrace Christ.

 

two: prayer and worship

  They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the
  breaking of bread and the prayers. (Acts 2:42)

We commit ourselves to deeply engage a personal spiritual practice, throughout the week; to
worship on Thursday nights – either physically (attending the regular worship gathering) or virtually
(reaching out to a member of the community online or by phone on a Thursday); and to take at
least one retreat a year, either personally or as part of The Crossing or another Christian community.

This commitment matters because spiritual practice is just that: a practice, one that requires
intention, focus and consistency. This kind of spiritual practice is crucial to growing and deepening
our relationship with God and honing our ability to hear God’s calling on our lives.

 

three: christian community

  This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have
  loved you. (John 15:12)

We commit ourselves to nurture the life of God in our community by gathering with other members
of The Crossing community regularly, outside of worship, in one-on-one or small group settings, for
care and fellowship. When we are not able to gather physically, we will connect virtually once a
week with a member of the community, or take time to pray for the worshiping community on a
Thursday.

This commitment matters because care for our community is care for the body of Christ, and
because our mission as healers in the world requires us to nourish each other. It matters because we
are more than a worship service – we are a worshiping community. And more than a worship
community, we are a Christian community, a body of unlikely pilgrims seeking to live the Way of
Christ and pursue his mission together.

 

four: relationships

  You shall love your Abba God with all your heart, and with
  all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest
  and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall
  love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-39)

We commit ourselves to live in responsible, loving relationship with self and others. We will pay
prayerful attention to our bodies, seeking a variety of ways to nurture our own emotional and
physical health. As God's beloved people, we also commit to bear the love of God in our
friendships, in our dating, with our partners and spouses, with our children, and in our working lives.
We particularly affirm sexuality as God's precious gift and creation, always to be expressed with
care, prayer and faithful discernment.

This commitment matters because relationships are how we learn to see and receive all – including
ourselves – as Christ. We need each other's support and challenge, in all our relationships, and
need to see them as the context where we learn to listen, offer compassion, develop patience,
become partners in ministry and slowly grow into the fullness of Christ.

 

five: justice and service

  What does God require of you but to do justice, and to love
  kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)

We commit ourselves to discern and live out the core Christian values of peace and justice. In
particular, we commit to participate regularly in one ministry/program of justice, healing and
reconciliation. In general, we will discern how our actions and choices reinforce structures of
injustice and oppression, and then learn and commit to use our power and gifts to name and
heal injustice locally and globally.

This commitment matters because we seek to walk in the way of Jesus, spreading God’s mission of
healing, justice and transformation. Even as we engage in this mission, we know we will find
ourselves healed and transformed, and more capable of seeking and serving Christ in all people.

 

six: resources

  What does it profit them if they gain the whole world but
  lose or forfeit themselves? (Luke 9:25)

We commit ourselves to economic discipleship, giving generously (to The Crossing community
and to other ministries/efforts), and spending well (by making economic choices that demonstrate
compassion and awareness of global poverty and environmental impact).

This commitment matters because our relationship to money and time has everything to do with
our relationship with God. We want to use our money and our time to sustain the life of the world, to
sustain the life of The Crossing community, and to reflect a commitment to living as we were made
to live: in interdependence and compassion, with simplicity and intention.

 

a final prayer of commitment

  Adapted from the Bishop’s Concluding Prayer in the Service
  of Baptism, Book of Common Prayer (305)

Almighty and everliving God, let your gracious hand ever be over us your servants; let your Holy
Spirit ever be with us; and so lead us in the knowledge and obedience to your Word, that we may
serve you in this life, and dwell with you in the life to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

To download a pdf copy of this rule, click here.  You can also contact us to learn more.

 

     
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