Loving intentions: a look at contemporary Mennonite intentional communities

Abstract

In the process of defining the emic term “intentional community”, this thesis tells the story of the McMillan House, a Mennonite intentional community in Winnipeg that existed between 2000 and 2007. This thesis also shares the stories of seventeen other young adults who have lived in various intentional communities across North America. This thesis uses ethnography and auto-ethnography to examine the seemingly common association between those who choose to live in intentional community and the often difficult move between moving away from one’s childhood home and inherited traditions to creating a home for oneself and, thus, having the space to discover one’s unique vernacular expression of these said traditions. Through the close and intimate relationships found in their different intentional communities, the young adults interviewed in this thesis found the emotional support they needed to move into the next stages in their life, to come to terms with their varying identities, and to actively live-out their belief in love. This abstract belief in love is expressed tangibly and actively by the participants through things such as environmental sustainability, the overcoming of social alienation, simplicity, and food justice - food justice being the most explored n this thesis.