About Us
I. HISTORY/WHO ARE WE?
(and others to come still! plus short bios as well.)
II. METHODOLOGY
- Providing services to the "weak, downtrodden, and weary"; this includes those without permanent residence, young single parents, foster children/orphans, and the spiritually discouraged. "Services" is defined here as providing assistance to drop-in shelters, finding jobs/residency, meeting physical needs (such as nutrition and rest), and (perhaps most importantly) building relationships.
- Strengthening the faith of others and ourselves by being a living example of: the Word (the Holy Bible), the loving actions of Jesus Christ, the holiness of G-d, the unity of the Holy Spirit, and the purity of Christ.
- Bringing value and enrichment to the lives of others through acts of love and community involvement. This includes hard labour (painting houses, rebuilding/reconstruction of residences, and other physically labouring tasks), after-school programs, adult education, and a community garden.
- We pool our incomes together so that we may share for the development of community and strengthen the resources we have been blessed with to provide for others.
III. PROMISES
- We dedicate our lives to live as according to the guidelines for the Church*, and live a life devoid of complacency as demonstrated in Acts (Acts 2:42-47, Acts 4:32-37, Acts 11:29-30, Acts 15:19-21), to provide a living, breathing Body of believers in Christ our Saviour to serve the purposes of not only our internal community but also the greater surrounding community as well as the community of the Church.
- We vow to always strive towards G-d, the holy Father; Jesus Christ, the risen Son; and the Holy Spirit, the source of unity. See also the Methodology section. We recognize we are but meek and humble, however; deserving our death because of sin- and we recognize that because of G-d's gift of grace and salvation through Jesus Christ, we may live.
- We will try our hardest to extend our community not only to other believers, but to non-believers as well (Acts 11:1-18), for we are all created by G-d.
*Church, when we use it as a proper noun, refers to the entire body of believers that hold faith that Christ is L-rd and that He has sacrificed Himself so that we may live in both flesh and spirit. It does not refer to a particular building or place of worship (a "church"- lowercase), nor does it suggest/endorse any specific or particular sect of Christianity (Psalm 133:1, Genesis 13:8, John 17:11, Acts 1:14, Acts 2:46, Ephesians 4:1-6, Ephesians 4:11-13, Ephesians 4:15-16, Ephesians 4:25, Ephesians 4:29-31, Hebrews 13:1, Galatians 3:28) NOR DOES IT ENDORSE ANY POLITICAL AFFILIATION (Acts 4:25 among many others). We are not liberals nor conservatives nor anything in-between; we're just a group of people who want to show G-d's love and live a Biblically-inspired life that brings glory to Hashem.
IV. PHILOSOPHY
(See our Methodology and Promises sections)
V. NAMESAKE
Many of you may be aware of the classic American folk song "House of the Rising Sun", a woeful tale of a young woman's life ruined by being part of a brothel (and then later covered by the Animals in which the context is changed slightly). That's the most common interpretation, anyways.
But the name of our community is from the first lines from the song ("There is a house in New Orleans / they call the Rising Sun / and it's been the ruin of many a poor [girl/boy] / and L-rd knows I was one"). We like it a lot because it represents the area we're trying to serve, plus with the slight change from sun to Son, we're trying to represent a servitude to Y'shua Moshiach ("Jesus the Messiah") and a prevalence of His love in the world (a "Rising Son"). Lastly, we also want to be ruined and broken by the House- but towards humility, not despair. We want to be broken down and humbled every day we wake and every night we bed, so that we may be instead humble servants of the L-rd instead of trying to live selfishly for ourselves and our basic selfish desires.
Additionally, who doesn't like a pun?
VI. ADDENDUM
A. TIMETABLE
All of the core members are currently moved in.
Most of the services/projects we listed above should be started before the end of 2010.
B PROJECTS/IDEAS STILL IN DISCUSSION
- "Open 24/7" policy- someone will always be at the House available for discussion or other help
- "Love Feasts" in which everyone and anyone may attend for communion, discussion, or a meal; this includes the rich, the poor, the homeless, the Christian, the non-Christian, all alike. Potluck-style; it doesn't matter what you bring as long as there's enough and it's edible. Yes, this includes food that is safe to eat via dumpster-diving as well (just be sure to let us know if it was dumpstered or not; some of our guests may not be as comfortable as we are about eating from the garbage!).
- Non-profit status. This will be a great boon to anyone who sends donations our way as they'd be tax-deductible, and we'd really like the opportunity to thank them for helping us out.
- A community "art shop"- learn how to do screenprinting/stenciling, learn about photography, etc. plus a quiet, friendly atmosphere to help you get your artwork done. Hopefully we can throw some writing workshops in there as well.
- A community library
(for more information, please click on "Contact Us" at the top of this page. For our privacy policy, please go here.)