Founded in 1982, Agape is a lay Catholic nonviolent community dedicated to prayer, poverty, nonviolent education and ministry, and witnessing in the world. We are ecumenical and interfaith in orientation and practice, stressing multicultural, multiracial, antiracism, gender diversity, and interfaith practice, including honoring indigenous peoples and contact with local Native American tribal leadership and inclusion of them in our practice as a community.
We accept volunteers for any length of time to work in our garden and assist with homesteading, including maintenance of our two buildings, St. Francis House and St. Brigid House (a straw bale house with solar energy and a composting toilet).
We welcome interns for stays of a week or more and have a long history of wwoof volunteers. We are now interviewing college age and up interested community applicants for summer internships of any length.
We support ourselves through a nonviolent education ministry, donations and grants–which includes outreach to inner-city youths and adults–retreats, and other programs at the community. We host a variety of educational groups, particularly colleges, universities, high school classes and the like, who are interested in sustainability, nonviolence, witness to the violence in the world.
We pray together, study Scripture of all faith traditions, have drumming sessions, meditation, yoga and members take many hikes on trails in the region situated on Nipmuc land in the Quabbin Reservoir.
We welcome people who have a yearning for a community life based on prayer, simplicity, and nonviolence, gender and racial diversity and inclusivity. No TV or commercial radio but lots of music and a definite love of art in all its forms. We have access to internet.
Those drawn to Agape will interact with hundreds of people throughout the year, including college students who attend Agape’s twice-yearly retreats. Office work, computer assistance, gardening (planting, weeding, harvesting, etc.), homesteading of all kinds, and public witness and outreach are a part of our lives, as is contact with children and local communities of color and also Catholic Worker communities
Website: www.agapecommunity.org
We publish a community journal, Servant Song, and we are interested in the links between sustainability, the arts and spirituality, as well as in resistance to war through simple lifestyle.
Our work includes attending vigils for peace and joining in protests, as well as organizing around issues of resistance to violence. We do all of our resistance in the spirit of nonviolence. Contemplation and action are underpinnings of our lives.
We have a position open for a post-grad student in Theology or the Spirituality of Sustainability for a year or more. Please find the description of this position on our website: www.agapecommunity.org.
Sustainability and Nonviolence with daily practice of prayer, contemplation and interfaith sharing. We stress community living with an accent on the arts and music, as well as travel to and involvement in other communities nationally and locally. We are supportive of Indigenous people and have had three yearly events focusing on listening: to Muslim Voices; to Native American Voices; to Voices of those suffering from Systemic Racism.
We welcome all who check our website and/or call or contact by email. A;pplication may be downloaded from our website
A few people (not elected by the broader community) make the major decisions.
Everyone must agree before moving forward.
Power and responsibility are shared relatively equally among members.
Two co-founders are the residents of one house, Brigid House. 12 people are in our Mission Council which is a vision sharing and decision making group for the community
Members contribute a percentage of income to community funds.
Labor: Yes (25 hrs/week)
Members with pre-existing debt: allowed
Residents can expect a small stipend for living expenses.
We cannot pay off college loans
We are open to people living near the community in the town of Ware or Hardwick and relating to the community on a daily basis.
No fee, but donations are always accepted as they are how we survive.
No regular donations expected.
Common House, Garden(s), Greenhouse(s), Vehicle Share, Library, Outbuilding(s), Large Scale Kitchen, Fire pit, Internet
Countryside locations with significant distance from urban centers.
Integrated communities designed around ecological principles with sustainable living practices.
Communal living with shared resources, property, and often income or work responsibilities
Residential communities focused on providing space for meditation, spiritual practice, and personal growth retreats.
Connecting people and communities through an intentional online marketplace
A residential project: people live here as their primary home.
An institution, business, network, or project that isn’t a residence (e.g. a learning center, farm, or network with no one living there full-time).
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