A few years ago at a Drumming Circle (our occasional community-wide discipleship meeting), we began the experiment known as “Monastic Communities.” The experiment has been bumpy, yes, as leaders learned to lead and as people who didn’t know each other all that well were pushed together in various semblances of community interaction. However, God has used these groups to accomplish some cool things at the Village. The four Monastic Communities chose the external Christ-centered ministries that the Village would support financially; these ministries were organizations that either have had an impact on, or pursue goals that are close to the hearts of, several people in these groups. Monastic Communities have also served as a good place for new Villagers to meet people and start integrating into the community.