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Model 10: Cooperative Housing Today more than 1.5 million people live in cooperative housing. From the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society, in 1844, during England’s Industrial Revolution to today’s household products names like Land O Lakes butter demonstrate the evolution and viability of the cooperative principles. Co-op operating principles are the same for a business as for co-op housing. Jill introduces biblical images of co-op housing and the chapter authored by Ron Spann about the Mustard Tree Co-op Apartments in Detroit, Michigan. As part of the circumstances surrounding Ron’s call as rector, the parish crossed paths in the early 1970s with the intentional community movement. As a result, white suburban Christians began to relocate into Messiah’s African American side of Detroit. Together they envisioned the local church as an outcropping of God’s Kingdom. When a neighboring four-story apartment caught fire in late 1977, church members reached out to both the owners and the tenants. Eventually the church purchased the building and placed several members in two apartments. In time the tenants grappled with the meaning of community through the challenge to become a co-operative. The church's efforts to build a community with their new neighbors were based on their faith in Christ and on the vision of the City of God. This chapter shares this story, which explores and reflects on the evolution of Messiah’s housing ministry. From those beginnings of hearing God’s call, taking action, effecting both church and neighbors, finding new partners, and meeting new challenges, Messiah Housing was born, which today plays a significant role as a leader not only in seeking to alleviate the housing crisis in Detroit, but nationwide.
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