MISSION: An intentional community seeking to honor creation through spiritual practice, environmental sustainability, and work for peace and justice

We are a community of 3 families, sharing 8 acres of land outside of Richmond, Kentucky.

HISTORY

We began meeting with a larger group to pray together and discuss issues of economic and social justice about 15 years ago. After several years of weekly meetings, we bought our current land, built new homes, and moved in to community in June of 2005.

Our life together has evolved over the years as we figure out the best way to implement the guidelines in our covenant. We meet twice daily, 8 am and 7 pm, for 15 minutes of silent meditation, prayer, singing, or other spiritual practice. As new members join the community, we will work together to find expressions of spirituality that are comfortable for all. We have found our daily meetings to be key to keeping our community together and running smoothly, and each of the adult community members commits to being there as often as possible.

We have weekly business meetings, and try to meet once a week for fun and games. We share the work of caring for the land and common buildings.

OUR FAMILIES

Thyne and Andy Rutrough share a home with their two sons, Isaac and Micah. Daughter Abby attends college in California. Andy is interim pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Lexington, KY. Thyne has home schooled their children for the past 15 years.

Margie Stelzer and Rob Weise have a college aged son, Spencer and a teen-age daughter, Mary Rose. Rob teaches American History at Eastern Kentucky University and Margie home schools, homesteads and manages the Berea Farmers Market.

As the oldest adult in the community, Mary Ann Ghosal lives the life of an active retiree. She works on a variety of peace and justice issues with Central Kentucky groups, in her local church, our intentional community and the Ghosal-Stelzer-Weise household. She has an adult daughter, Josie, who lives in Saudi Arabia with her husband, Wes, and the two youngest of her five grandchildren, Jackson and Gavin. Her older grandchildren (Jordan, Brandon, and Connor) live in Texas.

COVENANT

Living together in community can be hard, and there are few models for how to do this in our society. These are the guidelines we have adopted in order to make community life possible, fulfilling and enjoyable.

We agree to:
* Root our lives in shared daily spiritual practice
* Model decency, care, charity and faithfulness
* Live environmentally sustainably
* Embrace nonviolence
* Work for peace, social and economic justice
* Offer hospitality
* Make decisions by consensus
* Honor individual sacredness, support committed couples, and nurture family relationships
* Balance our communal and private lives
* Share faithful stewardship of commonly owned resources

http://www.ic.org/directory/curtis-pike-intentional-community/