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Daily Life
I just delivered some dinner to two VC families that recently moved into the neighborhood. I made red beans and rice which you top off with fritos and nacho cheese sauce, plus chocolate chip cookies for dessert. This meal started as a Nixon cheap family recipe that I served our young family of 5, then continued to serve when we had the Rains family living with us, and continued to serve as others moved in and around us. Now it seems it’s rather well known and something folks in our community enjoy and want the recipe to. To deliver the food I walked out the back door of the Convent where I live, found four kids sprawled on beach towels in the yard … one was mine, two belonged to the Brown House, and the other lives across the street from the Brown House. I shared some cookies with them, then walked through back door of the Brown House, stopping on the back deck to say hi to Tracy who was washing her dog, Chili, and Krystal who was enjoying the rocking chair and looking forward to her husband’s return home tonight from traveling for a couple of weeks. I went out the front door and across the street to the Havens’ house, my first delivery, and found Marissa in the yard. She’s expecting a baby soon and is “enjoying” the physical discomfort of the last weeks of pregnancy. Then I went back across the street to make my second delivery to the Ferrells’ house (Marissa's sister and her family) … they just moved in last weekend. Andy was in the back yard cutting up yard waste and I got to meet Gracie, their cute little dog. Andy, in one week, has already met several neighbors on the street who aren’t associated with VC, and learned some history about the neighborhood that those of us who’ve been here awhile weren’t aware of. As I walked back home (the Ferrells are a few houses down from the Brown House), I could hear Tracy’s loud laughter from her back yard. I went back through the Brown House, waving to Angela who was on the computer, and saw Renee with her son Aidan playing in the play room. As I walked home I thought, “how sweet this is”. Just a casual Friday afternoon, no big plans, but being able to see so many of my dear community for a few moments. Sharing regular, daily life together. Always a friend nearby. The Community Begins
In 1995 Vineyard Central purchased the property known in Norwood as St. Elizabeth from the Catholic church. Dave and I and our 3 kids had moved into the Brown House … a 5500 square foot house with about 9 bedrooms, a couple of living rooms, many bathrooms, and office space. It was too big for us. We felt lost. So we invited Kevin and Tracy Rains, who at that time were in their 20’s and had only been married a couple of years, to move in with us. And that’s how it all began. We loved living together. Dave and I, fearful that our 3 kids would get in the Rains’ hair, labeled kitchen cabinets “Nixon” and “Rains” so our kids wouldn’t eat their food … pointed out their living room and our living room, because we thought they’d want a place to get away from our kids. It only took about a month for the labels to come down and for us to live together as one family. We shared good times (like the births of their two children), bad times (like miscarriages), holidays (we developed a tradition of gathering together every Christmas morning to open stockings, eat cinnamon rolls, and open gifts), and we even took some vacations together … Memphis (yes, we went to Elvis’ house), Cape Cod, Red River Gorge. We enjoyed the experience so much we wanted to include others.When we bought the property, with it came a rectory (the Brown House) and a convent (still called the Convent). When the nuns moved out of the Convent, we invited some single men to live there. While they were there, Kevin began to have the vision for what would become Community House. He developed an intern training program, and over the next few years many would come and go to participate in this, sharing housing, working together, and studying and serving together. Community House became the communal living aspect of Vineyard Central … a sister organization. Kevin was the director of this entity while Dave was the pastor of Vineyard Central. In 2000, Dave went to Colorado for a 6 week sabbatical, and when he returned, he and Kevin talked and prayed and realized that God was leading them to switch places. So Kevin became the pastor of Vineyard Central and Dave became the director of Community House. Also during these years, as folks in the VC family saw that the Rains and Nixons were making lifetime commitments to live and die in Norwood, others began purchasing property in the neighborhood as well. Our community was growing. Changes
Around 2001-2002, we (the Rains and Nixons) recognized that we had “too much leadership” in our household, the Brown House, and no real leadership in the Convent. Dave had new vision for the Convent, what it could be. As people moved out of that house, we didn’t bring anyone new into it. We let it sit fallow for a year, seeking God’s direction. After that time, Dave and I decided we would move to the Convent and lead an internship program there, while Kevin and Tracy stayed in the Brown House to provide its leadership. We completely renovated the Convent and the Nixons moved over in April of 2003. It was strange for a time, not living together, but as we moved forward in our households, bringing in more people to share life and learn from one another, we both were able to spread our wings even more. With two solid households, the neighborhood continued to grow with more VC members moving in. Community House Today
Currently we still have the two communal households. The Rains family lives on the 3rd floor of the Brown House and oversees that household family. Four to five singles live with them, and 3 dogs. They host many VC events in their home, plus open their backyard deck for many neighborhood and network events, with people from all over the country coming to hang out around the chimenea and learn more about house churches and community living. The Nixon family lives on the 3rd floor of the Convent. This house has become a retreat house. Many come through our doors looking for a weekend or a few days of peace, spiritual direction, or a listening ear, as well as friends in ministry all over the country looking for encouragement, rest, and/or conversation.The 'Hood
And all around us are families from Vineyard Central who’re living in the neighborhood. At last count there were about 65 members of Vineyard Central within a few block radius. With the addition of the Speckled Bird Cafe in March of 2007, we now have a beautiful, cozy spot to gather and share a cup of coffee or listen to local music. Not only do we who live here see each other daily … waving as we see one of us jogging by, gathering early in the morning for daily prayers, playing in the back yard, shopping at the neighborhood Kroger … but we learn about our neighbors who don’t yet know Christ, and we do our best to love and serve them. Our kids are growing up together, playing on the same soccer teams, going to school, taking field trips in the summer. There are more houses for sale in the area … and apartments for rent. There’s plenty of room.  
Copyright 2008 •
Vineyard Central
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